


Memento

by Laurawrzz



Series: Destiny/Memento Collection [11]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Angst, Childbirth, Coma, Confinement, Destiny/Memento, Drug Use, Dubious Consent, F/M, Fire, Fluff, Gallifreyan Biology (Doctor Who), Gallifreyan Culture (Doctor Who), Gallifreyan History (Doctor Who), Gallifreyan Language (Doctor Who), Gen, Gun Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, Implied Mind Rape, Injury, Kidnapping, M/M, Married The Doctor/Rose Tyler, Multi, Nightmares, Other, Outer Space, Paralysis, Parents Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Post-Episode AU: s04e13 Journey's End, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pregnancy, Psychic Violence, Romance, Telepathy, Temporary Character Death, Tenth Doctor Angst, Tenth Doctor Era, Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler Fluff, The Doctor (Doctor Who) Whump, Time Travel, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:06:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 76,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28123560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laurawrzz/pseuds/Laurawrzz
Summary: ‘Jack - whoever you are - I’m up for a story as much as the next person, but not right now. Where are –’‘Doctor,’ Jack cut in, ‘believe me when I say we haven’t got the time. You’re just gonna have to trust me. This isn't a story. This is your life and you need to remember it.’~ ΘΣ ~The Doctor wakes up with a damaged memory, as a prisoner of an unknown entity. With him is someone who claims to be his friend. Time is apparently running out, and all the Doctor has to reconstruct his life are stories told by a man he can’t remember, and is not sure he can even trust.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Jack Harkness/Other(s), Martha Jones/Mickey Smith, Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: Destiny/Memento Collection [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/268567
Comments: 33
Kudos: 17





	1. Memories

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome one, welcome all. This is technically a sequel to my Destiny series, but we're starting on a brand new footing with a whole new story arc, so if you didn't read that (and who can blame you, there's like, a million words of it or something ridiculous) then it doesn't matter, you should be just fine starting here. If this piques your interest, then go to this series' page and there's a little link there which'll take you to a document with extended summaries of all previous stories, as well as containing links to my gallifreyan dictionary and the Destiny universe timeline I use to try and keep my sanity on track in a world of constant time travel. Though forewarning, it obviously contains summaries for stories not yet posted on AO3 so don't scroll down too far if you don't wanna know. Any questions, please shoot :D
> 
> This series is an unashamed epic TenRose continuing collection, that utilises every tiny tidbit of Who canon, both in the show and in its extended lore. It's also exceptionally whumpy and some smidgens of smut enroute. So if that isn't your thing, run awaaaay! :o

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor wakes up with a damaged memory as a prisoner of an unknown entity. With him is someone who claims to be his friend.

_‘Temperature 12 degrees celsius. Life signs of prisoners normal. 2:37pm.’_

The Doctor woke up with a choked gasp to the sound of an automated female voice, his eyes snapping open to meet the sight of a somewhat blurry, grotty, wet stone wall in front of him.

He could hear the steady drip of water quite nearby, and some distant tortured screams. His body was hurting badly, and his mind was utterly addled as he stared at the wall, wondering why the room was upside-down and swaying slightly. It took a worryingly long time for him to realise that it wasn’t the room that was upside-down and swaying, it was him. _He_ was hanging upside-down, with his hands fixed behind him.

He strained his head up to see he was hanging by one foot from the ceiling by a metal chain. This wasn’t good, he thought as his brain slowly began to sharpen. He couldn’t move much, but he could see three sides of the room were made of stone, and he could just about glimpse behind him that the other side had the light-blue sheen of what he guessed to be a forcefield.

He looked down, finding that the stone floor six feet below his head was a mixture of water and blood. Judging by the way he felt, it was probably his blood, he realised. He immediately stopped mentally referring to the room as a “room” and started calling it a “cell”. 

However, strangely, that wasn’t the most worrying thing at the moment. The most worrying thing was that he had no idea how he’d got here, or what had happened.

To try and get some information on that somewhat terrifying discernment, he thought back to his last memory before he’d woken up here. He’d brought the Moment into the barn, to ...

The thought of it made him want to throw up as the sheer guilt and horror of what he’d done seemed to spontaneously burn his insides. He’d killed his entire race. He’d destroyed his homeworld. He’d burnt everyone alive. 

Wait. He was alive. How was he alive? He should have died with them. He was _meant_ to die with them. He didn’t want to be alive. He didn’t want to survive. That would make him … the _last_ of the Time Lords, and the last gallifreyan.

Hold on. If he was alive, maybe they were?

He searched for any sense of his race, but something was blocking him. He couldn’t tell ...

He looked down to the puddles again, and could just about make out his reflection in the low light. He was no longer the old man with a beard. He was much younger, with dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a thin face, which was currently a little bruised and bloody, but after a quick waggle of his chin and some expression-pulling, he discerned that everything was seemingly in working order. He’d regenerated, he realised. But something inside him told him that had happened a _very_ long time ago. How was that possible? Why couldn’t he remember? In practical terms he could assume he’d been tortured, so maybe he had some brain damage? 

At any rate, he was obviously in a horrific situation. He needed to take action; find out what was going on.

‘Hey!’ he cried. His new voice startled him a little. ‘Someone!’

‘Shush!’ a voice suddenly urged from somewhere behind him, beyond the blue forcefield. A brief flash of recognition of the voice washed through the Doctor’s brain, but he couldn’t quite place it.

‘Hello?’ the Doctor asked, lowering his voice. ‘Who’s there?’

‘Doctor, it’s me,’ the man said with an American accent. 

The Doctor frowned. No one had called him the Doctor for a very long time. Not since before the war ... ‘Who?’

‘I’m Jack,’ the man said.

The name seemed to ring in his head as familiar, but he couldn’t quite seem to recall any people in his memories to attach it to. Maybe he’d misheard the name. ‘Pardon?’

‘Jack,’ the man repeated. ‘You remember me, right?’

The Doctor suddenly felt something from the man - a profound wrongness, manifesting in a large knot in his guts. This man, the Doctor instinctively knew, was a fixed point in time and space. He abruptly realised he should be scared. He should have wanted to get away from him. But for some reason, the opposite was happening. There seemed to be some kind of trust, here. The problem was, he couldn’t remember ever speaking to him before. ‘Sorry, Jack,’ he said. ‘I don’t remember you.’

‘You’ve _got_ to remember. I’m Jack. The immortal. I run Torchwood, back on Earth. You sure you don’t remember? Think, Doctor.’

‘Sorry,’ the Doctor said again. ‘You’ve probably got the wrong person. I’m a Time Lord, we regenerate, which means …’

‘I know,’ Jack interrupted. ‘Believe me, I know. And I know you. Trust me. This isn't good. What’s the last thing you remember?’

The memories of the Moment slammed into his head again. ‘End of the war. I used the Moment … I think I killed them,’ he said. He didn’t quite know why he was being so open about it to this man, but strangely he felt like he could rely on him.

‘That’s where your memory stops? After the Time War?’

The Doctor was deeply confused by the man’s response. Being unable to see him was only making it worse. This man had familiarity with something, that from the Doctor’s perspective, he’d only just done. The choice of phrase suggested it had been a very long time ago. ‘How long ago are you saying that was?’

‘Years and years,’ Jack replied. ‘You don’t remember Rose? Or Martha? Or Donna?’ 

‘Who?’

‘Shit,’ Jack swore. ‘You said this might happen, but this is … it’s … Jesus, this is bad.’

‘I’d really like this all to start making sense now. I told you this might happen?’

‘You said you might get amnesia,’ Jack replied. ‘And if you did I had to fill you in.’

‘If I do have amnesia, the last thing I need is filling in,’ the Doctor replied. ‘That could hurt more than help.’

‘You don’t get it,’ Jack said quickly. ‘We don’t have time for you to remember. It’ll be too late by then.’

‘What?’

‘You at least know where you are and why you’re here, don’t you?’

The Doctor looked vaguely around the upside-down cell, hoping something might come back to him. It didn't. ‘No?’

‘Doctor, we’re …’ He trailed off, and started again, ‘okay, forget it. I’ll start from the top. After the Time War, you –’

‘Wait,’ the Doctor interrupted. ‘Jack - whoever you are - I’m up for a story as much as the next person, but not right now. Where are –’

‘Doctor,’ Jack cut in, ‘believe me when I say we haven’t got the time. You’re just gonna have to trust me. This isn't a story. This is your life and you need to remember it.’

The Doctor found himself beginning to get a bit annoyed, and deeply suspicious. ‘Whatever game you’re in the middle of, I’m not playing.’

‘We don’t have time for this. Listen –’

‘I –’

‘Shut up!’ Jack said harshly. ‘For once in your life, just listen. I can save you, but I need you to trust me. If I’m a liar, then answer me two questions. You know I'm wrong; you can feel I’m wrong, but you feel comfortable with me. How is that possible unless you've known me for a really long time? Also, your body. It’s new to you, but it’s not new to me. Despite thinking you’ve only just used the Moment and regenerated, how come you're already comfortable in that body?’

The Doctor paused. He had a point, he had to admit. ‘Okay,’ the Doctor said. ‘I’ll believe you. Where are we?’

'We’re prisoners.’

'Of who?’

Jack hesitated. ‘... You need to remember how we got here first.’

The brief idea that this man was lying to him crossed the Doctor’s mind before a distant scream of a tortured soul prompted the Time Lord into action. Whoever this man was, clearly it was his only way of getting information on why exactly he was hanging upside-down six feet off of the ground in a cell, starving, thirsty, and in pain, and with apparent amnesia. 'Okay. Tell me how I got here.’

'You activated the Moment in the Time War, and everyone died. Your race, the Daleks, everyone. You were very, _very_ depressed. You eventually found a human girl called Rose Tyler on your travels, and she became your companion.’

At the sound of the name, the Doctor felt something in his chest apparently tighten, right between his hearts, as though even his body was physically reacting to that name. He suddenly had the most profound feeling that he needed to get to her – that he needed to find her. That was strange. He hadn’t felt anything like that since ...

‘She helped you. That’s when you met me, too. You even died to save her life. But you lost her in a parallel universe when you were trying to save Earth from the Daleks and the Cybermen. You couldn’t get to her, and she couldn’t get to you. So you went on. You met Martha Jones, and she became your companion. Eventually the Master –’

‘ _The_ Master?’ the Doctor asked to clarify, his eyes wide.

‘Yeah, him,’ Jack answered. ‘Basically, we ended up being held captive for a year by him. We call it the Year That Never Was. He died at the end - or so we thought. Martha left to look after her family. You then met Donna and travelled with her. But then the Daleks came back, with Davros in charge.’

All these names and events were stirring something inside the Doctor’s brain, as each sentence seemed to unlock some tiny portion of his memories. Blurry faces associated with the names Jack had just said seemed to pop up in his mind.

‘Wait,’ the Doctor said, squeezing his eyes shut and thinking hard. ‘Rose … blonde. Martha … doctor. Donna … Chiswick.’

‘You remember them?’

‘Not really,’ the Doctor said. ‘It’s hazy.’

Jack continued, ‘Rose came back. In the process, you gained a metacrisis from your spare hand. You solved the Dalek problem, and you took her and the metacrisis back to the parallel universe.’

‘Why?’

‘You just wanted to give them a happy ending. But they didn’t see it that way. They didn’t stay there. They refused. So you ended up taking them with you as companions. Donna had to have her memory wiped to save her. You, Rose, and your metacrisis travelled together for a while, but one day your metacrisis died.’

‘How?’

‘He was stung by a howcrass, to save Rose. He died from the venom. But I’ve always thought he must’ve said something to you because that was the day you kissed her properly for the first time, and your and Rose started your relationship.’

‘Relationship?’ the Doctor repeated disbelievingly. 

‘Yeah, as in “together”.’

'I don't think I would,’ the Doctor told him firmly. ‘I couldn’t. Not again. Especially with a human’s lifespan.’

'Love’s a funny thing, Doctor. Makes you do crazy things. You should still be able to feel her. Do you still feel her? Right between your hearts?’

The Doctor fell silent as the ache in-between his hearts suddenly grew rapidly as soon as it was mentioned. ‘... How do you know that?’

‘Because you told me that’s how it feels,’ Jack said. ‘So you finally let your inhibitions after the Time War go. You had a baby with her.’

The Doctor scoffed. 'Oh, come on. We wouldn't even be reproductively compatible.’

Jack laughed. ‘Yeah, you thought that the first time. That’s how it came about. She gave birth to a baby girl. Your daughter. You named her Leah.’

The name cued a pang of something ferocious and soft and painful just below the Doctor’s ribs, in the very core of his being.

‘You had another kid, called Alex. But he turned out to be a Fateless.’

'A person born inside a paradox?’ the Doctor realised, wide-eyed. Again, at the sound of the name, the feeling inside of him came back. He knew these names … didn't he?

‘Yeah,’ Jack confirmed. ‘Because of that, he was in danger. Time Agents were out to kill him. So you put him on Anzen - a planet you created to protect those like him. He's there right now, safe and secure, because of you. Then there’s Theo. He’s the youngest.’

The Doctor felt a little ill. He’d gone from potentially killing his entire race to apparently having three hybrid children. ‘This isn't me,’ he stated firmly.

‘You’ve changed, Doctor. You’ve improved. You’ve got Rose, and you’ve got all of us at Torchwood - you’ve got people to talk to, so you don’t have to keep everything inside. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you. You’ve never been so happy. Well, since we’ve known you, anyway.’

‘I couldn’t do that,’ the Doctor said, shaking his head. ‘Not again. I couldn’t go through having a family again. I wouldn’t do it. This isn’t me.’

‘But you know their names, and you can feel something inside. This is why. You’ve got something, now. People to love, and look after. People to care for.’

There was a long pause. Whoever Jack was, and however much he knew about the Doctor, he was right.

‘They're your kids, Doc. Little bit human, little bit gallifreyan.’

The Doctor swallowed, which felt like the strangest sensation as he was still hanging upside-down. ‘... Where are they now?’

‘We'll get to that,’ Jack said. ‘For the past few years you’ve been in and out of my Torchwood - it’s a secret organisation I run on Earth. Your brother, Braxiatel, came back too - he’d been in Volag-Noc. We had a load of struggles. Before all _this_ started, we were just getting over the Keys of the Moirai.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

‘Oh, so I’ve just told you that you’ve got an entire family you’ve forgotten, but _that’s_ impossible?’

‘That’s just some mythical artefact. Ten keys scattered across time and space said to unlock ultimate power. They don’t actually exist,’ the Doctor insisted.

‘Well they do, and we found them all.’

‘Oh.’

Jack laughed. ‘So you found them all, but the Master and your brother betrayed you - they were being controlled by Tony.’

‘Who’s Tony?’

‘He _was_ your wife’s brother, but he basically corrupted himself and spent his entire life chasing after you, trying to kill you. In the end, Rose killed the adult version of him to save your life. Your brother went insane from the mind control, and you built New Shada to contain him. The Master disappeared, we didn’t know where at the time, but we knew he was even more mentally unstable than usual.’

‘That last sentence was a bit leading,’ the Doctor mused.

Jack ignored him. ‘That’s when it started. It was about two weeks after Rose killed Tony. She was still pregnant with Theo, but he was nearly a week overdue. Through your connection with Rose, you get a load of pregnancy symptoms, so you were pretty uptight. To add to that, Rose was having recurring nightmares. She’d changed. She’d pulled into herself a lot. We barely saw her smile anymore. You were parked up in Torchwood in Cardiff, waiting for your son to be born …’

As Jack began to tell the story, the Doctor found himself recalling the events in his mind’s eye ...

* * *

_‘... You weren’t getting any sleep.’_

The Doctor knelt over Rose in bed, his hands gripping her shoulders, shaking her as much as he dared to. She was in another nightmare, intermittently crying out as she sweated, shivered and sobbed her way through whatever she was seeing in her head.

‘Rose!’ he yelled for the fifth time. ‘Wake up!’

He was about to do some telepathy, when finally her eyes snapped open, filled with pure, unrivalled terror. For a moment they were glazed until she focused and fixed on him. She screamed again, trying to escape.

‘Get off! Get off of me!’ she cried out.

‘Rose! It’s me!’ the Doctor said. ‘It’s okay, it’s me!’

After a moment’s more struggle, she finally seemed to realise it was him and stopped panicking. She was still frozen though, with her arms covering her belly and her chest, and tears rolling down the side of her face.

‘D-Doctor,’ she choked out. 

‘It’s okay,’ he repeated, brushing back her hair from her sweaty forehead. ‘It’s fine. Just a nightmare, deep breaths.’ He checked her head with some quick telepathy; his fingers on her temple. She was scared but otherwise seemed to be okay. ‘Nice and steady,’ he continued, pulling his hand away. ‘Breathe with me.’

He began a breathing pattern, not taking his eyes off of her. For a few minutes. they stayed put, just breathing, until he finally nodded, satisfied with how much she’d calmed down, and hugged her tightly.

After a few moments he tried to let go of her, but she clung onto him desperately. ‘Don’t let go,’ she begged.

‘Okay,’ he said, reaffirming his grip. ‘Not letting go.’

They fell into silence again, just sitting in the low light of their bedroom for a good few minutes.

‘What’s the time?’ she eventually asked, her voice weak.

‘Almost 4am,’ he replied.

Another long pause.

‘I’m so sorry,’ she sobbed.

‘Don’t be stupid, sorry is a word for people who’ve done something wrong,’ the Doctor told her firmly. ‘You’ve done nothing wrong.’

‘I can’t do this,’ she whispered.

‘Yes, you can,’ he told her.

‘I can’t fight this. It’s too hard.’

‘Hey,’ he said suddenly, pushing her away to look her directly in the eyes. ‘What did you promise me?’

‘I know, but …’

‘Say it.’

She swallowed, forcing back some more tears as she disconnected her gaze.

He gave her a gentle push. ‘Look at me.’

She forced her head up.

‘Say it,’ he repeated.

‘... That I wouldn’t give up.’

‘That’s better,’ the Doctor said, smiling at her as he gazed unblinkingly into her eyes. ‘I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. You killed someone, and living through this is going to be the hardest thing you’ve ever done in your life. But you’re not alone. You’ve got Jack, your mum, Leah, in fact, everyone at both Torchwoods, and most importantly, you’ve got me.’

‘But I can’t even sleep anymore,’ she moaned. ‘I’m so tired.’

‘Then I’ll fix that for you,’ he said. ‘I'll find something. I told you. You concentrate on thinking positive thoughts, and I’ll take care of everything else.’

She nodded. ‘I love you.’

‘Feeling’s mutual,’ he assured her. ‘Want to get up, or try sleeping again?’

‘Get up,’ she replied immediately.

‘Okay,’ he said. ‘I’ll get us some tea.’

* * *

 _‘Temperature 11 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 2:45pm,’_ the automated voice said.

‘I remember that,’ the Doctor realised, frowning.

‘Do you remember what you did to help her?’ Jack asked.

‘Kinda,’ the Doctor muttered. ‘While she was having a bath I went to the library and found this really old, boring, and dusty book about dreams by a race called the psions, who were gifted telepaths …’

* * *

_‘... And I think you found me asleep.’_

Jack strolled into the TARDIS library at 10:30am, in search of the resident Time Lord. He called out for him, but he didn’t reply. After a little bit of navigating the sheer paradox that was the TARDIS library, Jack finally spotted him sitting against one of the shelves in the Time Lord anatomy section, half-dressed with his hair still in a bedhead effect. He was apparently deeply engrossed in a hefty and ancient-looking book.

‘Morning,’ he greeted, but the Doctor didn’t respond. It wasn’t until he got nearer did he realise the Doctor was, in fact, asleep.

‘Morning!’ Jack repeated, more firmly. The Time Lord jerked awake, his glasses slipping off of his face and hitting the floor.

‘Hey!’ the Doctor protested, realising his glasses were gone and immediately searching for them.

‘Morning,’ Jack repeated for the third time. ‘Take it you had another long night?’

The Doctor nodded, slipping his glasses back on and readjusting the book on his lap.

‘You’re both getting worse,’ Jack told him. ‘This isn’t doing Theo, you, or Rose any good. You need to do something.’

‘I _know_ ,’ the Doctor replied rudely. ‘Why do you think I’m sitting here reading a really long and boring book?’

Jack was getting used to the Doctor being a little uptight because of the overdue baby these days, so he brushed off the snipe and took a seat next to him, looking at the book. ‘So what’s the answer?’

‘I can’t use any drugs with the baby, plus we’ve tried Imagery Rehearsal Therapy, and that didn’t work,’ the Doctor said. ‘I can’t seem to help her before or after the nightmare's happened, so I wondered if there was anything I could do _during_ it.’

‘During it?’ Jack repeated.

‘I think I might be able to use the bond and telepathy to get inside her dreams somehow,’ the Doctor said. ‘Sort of protect her from them. A Dream Guardian. It’s theoretical, but I think I can do it. The psion race did.’

‘You mean, you’d get inside her nightmares and fight them?’

‘Yeah,’ the Doctor replied. ‘If I can get inside and convince her subconscious that I’m more powerful than anything in her dream, I can fight off anything for her.’

‘You’ve gotta be awake to do that,’ Jack pointed out. ‘That doesn’t help you.’

‘At least _she’ll_ get some sleep,’ the Doctor replied. ‘Anyway, I only need to help her in her REM phases. I can probably get ninety minutes between each one. Plus, once I'm established, I won't need to be there - she can summon me up herself.’

‘You’re still injured,’ Jack pointed out, gesturing at the wounds the Doctor still sported from his final encounter with the Master, Brax, and Tony. ‘You need to rest.’

‘Jack, all I do now is lie in bed waiting for her to wake up screaming,’ the Doctor stated. ‘I’ve got to do something. Anything has got to be better than this.’

‘I guess,’ Jack supposed.

‘Right now, I just need my son to be born. The amount of mental stress Rose is under …’

The Doctor trailed off, looking a little worried.

Jack clamped a supportive hand on his shoulder. ‘Okay, do what you need to do,’ he said, getting up. ‘You’ve had breakfast, right?’

‘No,’ the Doctor replied.

‘Useless,’ Jack said, shaking his head. ‘Get dressed, and I’ll fix something for you. What do you want?’

The Doctor didn’t appear to even have to think about that. ‘Fishcakes in caramel sauce.’

Jack really had to resist the urge to throw up.

* * *

_‘Temperature 12 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 2:47pm.’_

‘So … I feel the pregnancy?’ the Doctor asked Jack.

‘Yeah, you get symptoms,’ Jack replied. ‘You spend her pregnancies mostly crying and eating ice cream covered in gravy. Rose gets next to nothing.’

‘Why?’ the Doctor asked seriously.

‘It’s something to do with the bond you have with Rose. I don’t think even you understand it. It’s just some weird side effect that no one can explain. Even Brax couldn't.’

‘Oh,’ the Doctor muttered. Nope, he _really_ couldn’t work that one out. ‘So what does any of this have to do with our current situation?’

‘I’m getting there,’ Jack insisted. ‘Be patient.’

‘So what, I was on Earth, I was injured, my human wife was about to birth my son, and she had PTSD from killing someone. Now, I’m a prisoner with you, hanging upside down in a grotty cell, complete with amnesia. You know what? I’m struggling to make a connection.’

Jack sighed. ‘I said I’d get there.’

‘Can’t you speed up a bit?’

‘No,’ Jack replied. ‘Because that was where this all started – the moment you thought of trying to be a Dream Guardian.’

‘I’m assuming that it was a bad idea?’

Jack laughed. ‘Bad? We didn't know at the time, but it was the worst idea you’ve ever had in your life.’


	2. Dream Guardian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor attempts to be a Dream Guardian, before his pregnancy hormones strike.

_‘Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 2:48pm.’_

‘A couple more days, things were getting worse,’ Jack said. ‘Rose was barely sleeping. You thought it was starting affecting Theo, and maybe he wasn’t coming out because of the stress she was under, so you decided you’d try being a Dream Guardian. This bit I don’t know much about …’

* * *

_‘... But I know you did it.’_

It had taken all of the Doctor’s persuasive powers to convince Rose that she could risk going to sleep. One he’d convinced her, it didn’t take her exhausted body very long to drop off.

The Doctor obligingly stayed awake, watching and waiting. After an hour and a half, she finally entered REM. He continued to watch and wait for any signs of a bad dream. Two minutes in, she clearly dropped into a nightmare.

He immediately leant over her and pressed his fingers to her temples. He then saw what she was seeing - she was running through a destroyed alien city in her pyjamas, crying out for Leah. Nearly everything seemed to be on fire, explosions were happening at random intervals, and there were gunshots coupled with distant screams that sounded eerily like a five-year-old girl.

‘Leah!’ Rose screamed desperately. ‘Leah!!! Where are you!? Leah!’

After a few moments, she stopped and sank to her knees, sobbing bitterly. 'Doctor, Leah, don't leave me … _please.’_

The Doctor set to work immediately. He squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated hard, trying to insert himself inside the dreamscape. It took some doing, but eventually, he found himself in the destroyed city, standing inside her nightmare.

He staggered a little and looked around to try and get his bearings. Things were blurry and in strange proportions. The light was changing across a spectrum of colours, from blue, to black, to red. Things were decidedly semi-real. He was also fading in and out - her subconscious needed to accept him before he could be a real part of the dream.

All in all, the dreamscape was quite disconcerting, but he had to try and get a handle on it. He needed to find Rose and save her from the nightmare.

'Rose!’ he yelled. 

The entire dream suddenly seemed to stop dead. 

'Doctor!’ she yelled back. She sounded very far away. 

'Where are you!?’ he cried.

'I don't know! It's too dark to see!’

'Come to me!’

'I can't!’

'You can, just will yourself here!’ he called back. 

There was a pause. ‘... I can't do it!’

'Yes, you can! Just close your eyes and think of holding my hand!’ he shouted.

Another pause. 'It’s not workin’!’ she cried, and the war noises resumed, before suddenly everything collapsed into complete blackness.

The Doctor felt a bit helpless. He couldn’t control her dreams until her subconscious believed he could. He couldn’t help her yet. She was the only one who could control this dream at the moment.

However, he thought, the unshakable faith she had in him in real life could maybe help him out. If he tried hard enough …

He closed his eyes, willing himself to move to Rose, just like in a lucid dream. When he opened them, he saw her kneeling in front of him, naked and in a pool of blood, sobbing bitterly.

'Rose,’ he said gently, stooping to her level.

'Doctor!’ she blurted out, grabbing him. 'Oh god, I thought it killed you …’

'It?’ the Doctor echoed, confused.

'It took Leah and I can't find her,’ she wailed. 'And I've lost Theo, I bled him out!'

He looked at her. Before his eyes was a mentally ravaged woman, on the cusp of completely losing her sanity. His wife. The human he’d sworn to protect. 

He quickly realised that this was entirely up to him. He had to turn this nightmare around, and he had to do it now.

First, he had to cover her up to stop her feeling vulnerable. So he pulled off his coat and threw it over her, pulling it tight and buttoning it up. He then held her, encapsulating her frightened, shaking body in a cocoon.

The dreamscape around them seemed to quieten a bit as she felt less open and helpless.

Now, he had to make sure that her subconscious gave him extraordinary powers. She had to unshakingly believe that he was all-powerful, all-mighty, and firmly on her side. Then, whenever he returned to her dreamscapes, he easily could destroy whatever was creating carnage inside her head.

He pulled back, keeping his hands on her shoulders as he gazed straight into her eyes. ‘Remember that while I’m here, you’re safe,’ he told her. ‘Nothing can hurt you. I’m stronger than anything you can ever think of. I’m the most powerful thing to ever be. I will protect you and defeat anything that threatens you or anyone we care about.’

‘But ...’ she croaked.

‘I can control matter,’ he continued, interrupting her. There was absolutely no room for doubt. ‘I can control time. I can control life and death, and I can control everything in-between. I exist only to protect you, and whoever needs our help. I can do anything you want me to. I love you without question, without doubt. I adore you with all my being, and that will never, ever fade or change. When you’re with me, you will never, _ever_ be in danger. I serve only you.’

‘Doctor,’ she said, still shaking. He still wasn’t quite getting through to her subconscious, he realised. He was close, but not close enough. He had to prove what he was saying.

She suddenly started to panic. ‘Behind you!’

He turned, and saw a ferocious, nightmare beast that words couldn’t describe, looming over them. It was screaming a horrifying, blood-curdling scream, with sharp claws and fangs ready to kill him where he stood.

This, he realised, was the test that would decide whether this was going to work or not, and he didn’t have much choice than to trust Rose’s natural faith in him. He willed a shield to protect Rose - that worked perfectly - and he threw out his arm to the beast with the full intention of blasting it with lethal energy.

For a moment, the dream hesitated in giving him the power, but he didn’t flinch. Didn’t panic. Half a second later energy flowed out through his hand and hit the beast directly. It screamed, howled, and immediately disappeared.

Feeling very relieved it had worked, he turned back to Rose and willed their surroundings to change. They were suddenly in a beautiful country field, peaceful and clear, with birds singing, and the sound of a child’s laughter. He pointed Rose to look up the hill, where he’d put Leah on a swing, perfectly healthy and happy.

‘Nothing will ever defeat me,’ the Doctor told her firmly. He stepped forward, mentally putting her in her pyjamas and dressing gown, so she felt comfortable, and he kissed her.

Her REM phase abruptly came to an end, and he opened his eyes, finding himself back in the TARDIS, lying on the bed next to her. He had a hell of a headache, but also the biggest grin on his face.

It had worked, he realised. Her subconscious believed he could do absolutely anything, and he would do it all for her. He was now Rose’s Dream Guardian. Next time, it would be a lot easier.

He looked at her lying there. She wasn’t shaking and screaming, not anymore. She was finally sleeping peacefully, relaxed and happy. He settled on the bed, loosening his tie before putting an arm around her. He could get ninety minutes before the next one.

* * *

_‘Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 2:55pm.’_

‘A few days later, Rose was a lot happier, but your pregnancy hormones were back. You were the most uptight I’d known you to ever be,’ Jack said. 'You were snapping at everyone who came within ten feet of you. It got pretty obvious that you wouldn’t be very productive, so I asked Jackie to take Leah for the day, so I could look after you.’

'Who's Jackie?’ the Doctor asked.

'Rose’s mum,’ Jack replied. 'When Pete started getting a bit worrying and really anti-alien you brought her and Tony back from the parallel world when a gap opened up, just before Alex was born.’

'You mean _Tony,_ Tony?’ the Doctor clarified, wide-eyed. 'The one Rose ended up killing?’

'Yeah, the same.’

'Oh.’

Jack winced. ‘Yeah, I know. Jackie took it well, though. “That man you’re talking about isn’t my son” and all that. But anyway. Jackie had Leah for the day, so I could concentrate on you. It was your birthday, actually. I had to get you out of Torchwood - your mood was driving everyone up the wall. You remember?’

‘Yeah …’

* * *

_‘... You were so, so irritating.’_

‘... And I’ve rewired the mainframe,’ Jack was saying to the Doctor as they sat in Bute Park in Cardiff, bathed in sunlight. ‘It’s working at nearly full capacity again.’

‘Yeah,’ the Doctor replied, staring at him.

'I think if you did your thing we could get it going at maximum.’

'Sure.’

‘Any chance you can have a go with the sonic?’

'Mmm.’

Silence, as the Doctor just stared at him. Jack looked at him, sitting there looking as though lava was about to boil up and seep out of his ears. 'You could try being happier. It’s your birthday.’

The Doctor rolled his eyes. ‘Jack, why are we here?’

‘Err, everyone thought you might like some fresh air.’

‘Fresh air?’

‘Yeah, fresh air,’ Jack confirmed, still smiling. ‘Don't worry, there's a hotline to Rose in case she goes into labour,’ he explained, holding up his wrist with the vortex manipulator on.

‘Joy,’ the Doctor muttered, just as a stray football suddenly bounced to them from some kids playing nearby. It promptly hit the Doctor lightly in the head.

Jack decided that laughing would be a terrible idea and quite possibly suicidal with the Doctor’s mood, so he kept his face as neutral as he could possibly manage.

‘Sorry! Can we have our ball back please?’ one of the kids shouted as he jogged towards them from a distance.

Without a single moment's hesitation or breaking eye contact with Jack, the Doctor gritted his teeth, pulled out his sonic screwdriver, pressed it to the ball, switched it on, and the ball promptly deflated.

‘No problem!’ he yelled at the kid and threw the destroyed ball back.

Jack watched as the kid picked it up, and immediately looked utterly devastated. He turned and slunk back to his friends.

‘Is that enough fresh air yet?’ the Doctor wondered.

Jack decided that perhaps it would be better to get the Doctor into a more populated area to avoid any unnecessary use of his immortality. ‘Come on,’ he said, getting up. ‘Let’s take a walk.’

‘Oh yes, because that’s a really productive use of our time,’ the Doctor said sarcastically.

Jack bit his tongue to stop any comments, grabbed the Doctor’s arm and hauled him upright. The Doctor yelped in pain, and Jack dropped his arm quickly, realising he’d just caught the one attached to the shoulder with the stab wound. ‘Oh, shit, sorry.’

‘Thanks. Thanks for that. Really,’ the Doctor spat, holding his shoulder.

‘It should be in a sling,’ Jack pointed out.

‘Oh, let’s make me even more obvious, shall we?’ the Doctor snapped, gesturing at his face. It was still covered in light bruises and cuts. ‘Let’s just put a sign over my head saying, “Hi! I’m an injured alien”! Never mind you’ve got to drag me out here to Boringville to get hit by footballs, you’ve got to make sure that I’m the most obvious thing for five square miles!’

‘For god’s sake,’ Jack muttered under his breath. 

‘I’m sorry, did you say something?’ the Doctor asked in a grating voice, his left eye twitching slightly.

‘Yeah, I said let’s go to a café,’ Jack said immediately. There was less chance of being murdered by the Time Lord with that many witnesses around. Maybe.

* * *

_‘Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 2:59pm.’_

‘Our problem was you were recognisable,’ Jack told the Doctor. ‘A year before, you’d very publically saved the Earth from invasion, so most people knew your face. They all thought you were dead, though.’

‘Why?’

‘You’d jumped into the rift to stop this overpowering force from getting through. You were eventually pulled out, but that wasn’t for five months. Even Unit - you remember Unit? - thought you’d died. We thought you were never coming back. You’d even been honoured by the Queen.’

‘Err … what?’

‘You’d been given the title Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Most Gallant, posthumously. They made it up for you. You didn’t want to correct anyone, so we were trying to stay low. You were basically a dead man walking.’

‘And you thought a dead man walking down Cardiff’s busiest high street was the next logical move?’ the Doctor wondered.

‘Actually, it wasn’t that big of a deal when we were out in public. Some people came up to you, but you just fobbed them off. But anyway, we couldn’t get a seat in the café, and I really needed the toilet, so we went into this clothes shop …’

* * *

_‘... When I came out, you’d wandered off somewhere.’_

Jack emerged from the toilets, but the Doctor was gone. He continued back into the main shop, passing two women in conversation.

‘Yeah, I’m serious, there was this guy in the baby clothes bit, crying …’ one said.

‘Oh my god!’ the other one said, laughing.

Jack sighed and headed straight to the baby section, where he found the Doctor kneeling on the floor holding a pair of blue woollen booties, sobbing. Clusters of people were gathering around him, whispering and pointing.

Jack sighed again. ‘Doctor,’ he said, getting down next to him.

‘I d-don’t know why I'm crying!’ the Doctor whined.

‘C’mon. Let’s get away from the booties,’ Jack tried to encourage him, pulling the tiny shoes out of the Doctor’s hands and placing them back where they’d come from.

‘But they’re so l-little!’ the Doctor sobbed and took the booties back to hug them tightly against his chest. 

Jack sighed for the third time. ‘Do you want the booties?’

The Doctor looked at him, tear-stained, red-eyed and with the slight dribble of snot from his nose. He soundlessly nodded.

‘Okay, okay, I’ll buy them for you,’ Jack said quickly. ‘Now stop crying.’

The Doctor looked at Jack as though he were some sort of guardian angel, and launched forward to hug him. All Jack could do was be silently crushed in the Doctor’s grip, smiling at the building crowd. Some were starting to pull their phones out.

‘Excuse me, sirs, are you okay?’ a store attendant asked kindly as she approached them through the swathes of baby grows.

Jack looked at her, still being hugged, and nodded with the most charismatic smile he could manage. ‘Yeah, sorry, we’re fine. He’s err … his wife’s about to give birth.’

There was a chorus of ‘awws’ from those who had gathered. The Doctor sobbed a bit louder.

‘Oh?’ the store attendant said, clearly still confused.

‘We’ll get out of your hair,’ Jack assured her, trying desperately to prise himself away from the Doctor. ‘Doctor. Let go.’

People resumed laughing, and now Jack was pretty sure the phone cameras were recording.

‘What the ‘ell d’you think you’re all gawpin’ at!?’ a familiar voice suddenly shrieked from behind the jeans section as what felt like a hurricane arrived in the form of Jackie Tyler. She parted the crowd like net curtains as she pushed on through with five-year-old Leah in tow, screaming at the people around them. ‘Get out of it!’

‘Ma’am, I really must protest …’ the store attendant started, and rapidly realised his mistake as Jackie turned on him instead. 

‘Shove a cork in it, mate!’ she snapped and looked back to the crowd. ‘What, you lot never seen a man cry before!? ’

The crowd quickly dispersed, including the store attendant, as Leah ran to her crying dad to hug him.

* * *

_‘Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 3:01pm.’_

‘I sound horrendous,’ the Doctor said.

‘It was annoying, but we’d got used to it,’ Jack told him. ‘It wasn’t really your fault, and it was gonna be over soon anyway. So I paid for the booties, and we went out into the forecourt with Jackie and Leah. We grabbed some burgers, and you’d finally stopped crying. I got a message on the manipulator and left to take a call from Torchwood. Remember what happened then?’

The Doctor screwed up his face. ‘Umm …’

* * *

_‘... Leah was showing me what they’d bought.’_

‘Daddy, look what I got,’ Leah said happily, pulling out a myriad of things she’d bought with Jackie from her backpack to show him, one by one. There was a small portable radio, an alarm clock, some duct tape, several screws, some copper wire, and a blue-coloured My Little Pony with a rainbow mane and tail.

‘Err, what are you making?’ the Doctor asked, confused.

‘A My Little Pony with an inbuilt allotrope disphaser field,’ the five-year-old replied casually.

‘Ah,’ he said, nodding knowingly as he stared at the components. 

Jackie sighed loudly. ‘She’s definitely your daughter.’

The Doctor smiled at that as Leah shuffled across the bench to hug his middle.

‘You calmed down now then, sweetheart?’ Jackie wondered. ‘I don’t get why you’re still ‘aving mood swings, you should be done with that. And all these cravings.’

The Doctor briefly looked at his beef burger, which he’d topped with clotted cream from the supermarket, and then shrugged. ‘Rose is a week overdue. This hasn’t happened to us before. It seems to be normal,’ he said and finished the burger off.

‘Normal?’ Jackie repeated, laughing. ‘This ain’t even on the same planet as normal.’

‘Guys,’ Jack said as he came back at a jog, ‘that was Gwen. We’ve got a job on.’

‘Where?’ the Doctor asked.

‘Cardiff Castle. Don't know the details yet.’

'Okay,’ the Doctor said, getting up.

‘Can I come?’ Leah asked eagerly, her eyes widening.

'I'll take you back to Torchwood, sweetheart,’ Jackie told her, smiling. 'We can build your … um … thing.’

'Inbuilt allotrope disphaser field,’ Leah told her.

'Yeah, that.’

'I wanna go to the castle,’ Leah complained. 'Daddy, pleeease?’

The Doctor sighed.


	3. On the Job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor, Jack, and Leah head out on a mission to Cardiff Castle.

_ ‘Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 3:03pm.’  _

The Doctor winced. 'Please don't tell me I took a five-year-old into potentially serious danger.’

Jack laughed quite uproariously at that comment.

‘What?’ the Doctor asked, bewildered.

‘Over five years, Leah’s perfected the art of turning you – the man the Daleks fear, the man who can make armies turn and run away – into a giant pot of her own personal playdough,’ Jack replied.

‘Really?’ the Doctor asked, winded.

‘She’s not your average kid, she’s got your genes, so she’s really smart. I think she gets a bit conflicted between her two species every now and then.’

‘How so?’

‘I’d trust that kid with my life, Doctor, but she still watches Frozen about three times a day.’

‘Frozen …?’ the Doctor repeated, confused.

‘Let it go, let it go …’ Jack sang briefly.

‘I am one with the wind and sky…’ the Doctor found himself singing without even thinking about it.

Jack laughed again. ‘Yeah, that one.’

‘How human  _ are _ the kids?’

‘Err … like I said, your kids are as smart as hell and really advanced for their age. They've got mostly gallifreyan biology, including the two hearts. Bit of telepathy, and definitely got a time sense. The rest is all human, I think.’

‘Okay.’

‘So you, me, and Leah went to Cardiff Castle, and Jackie went back to Torchwood. We got the background of the mission on the way – your standard alien readings of a hostile nature. You pretended to be a tour guide who was late, and me and Leah were on the tour …’

* * *

_ ‘... You were pretty good.’ _

‘Welcome to the Arab Room!’ the Doctor said happily, waving around at the elaborate, beautifully-decorated room. Jack and Leah were at the back of the crowd, with Jack subtly scanning every room. ‘First created in the 1880’s, it was …’

‘Excuse me,’ a woman with an American accent said loudly. ‘This ain’t next on the tour.’

‘Is it not?’ the Doctor asked without any modicum of sincerity. 

‘Are you messing with me?’ the American woman asked rudely.

‘Not at all, ma’am … what’s your name?’

‘Anna.’

‘Well, Anna, you seem like a worldly, adventurer-y kind of free soul. I bet you’re part Welsh, aren’t you?’

‘One eighth!’ Anna replied proudly.

‘I thought I sensed a bit of the Celtic vibe in you,’ the Doctor replied with a charismatic smile. ‘You’re here for a genuine Welsh experience, I assume?’

‘Yeah, I am.’

‘Well, the Welsh are renowned for their capacity not to stick to itineraries.’

‘Are they?’ Anna asked eagerly.

‘Oh yes,’ the Doctor replied. ‘King Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, who ruled Wales in the 12th and 13th centuries, was particularly renowned for not sticking to itineraries. He basically rearranged the entire political establishment. You could even be related to him.’

‘I could!’ Anna realised.

‘I bet that one-eighth Welsh part of you is just screaming to be a bit chaotic. So how about we mix things up? Live a little? Embrace your bloodline? I won’t tell if you won’t.’

Anna nodded, clearly enthused. ‘Okay!’

‘Excellent. Right, now, where was I? Oh yes. The Arab Room. First created in the 1880’s, a collaboration between Cardiff Castle owner, Jon Chrichton-Stuar, the third Marquess of Bute, and Gothic Revival architect William Burges. Unfortunately, Burges died before the Arab Room was completed, so he was never able to see the finished room. But Chrichton-Stuar’s tribute to his friend and co-creator still remains to this day carved on edges of the fireplace.’

The Doctor gestured to the fireplace, where words were carved into the stonework.

‘Can we take pictures?’ Anna asked.

‘Yeah, sure,’ the Doctor replied, shrugging.

‘Excuse me, can we ask a question?’ Jack asked.

‘Of course!’ the Doctor said happily. As the tourists got out their cameras, the Doctor walked over to Jack and Leah.

‘How long did the room take to build?’ Jack asked as he showed the Doctor the results on his manipulator, indicating a surge of an otherworldly power source somewhere below them.

‘Well, sir, Burges and Crichton-Stuar had a sixteen-year collaboration,’ the Doctor replied, tapping at the manipulator. 

‘Is that real gold?’ Jack asked as the manipulator executed another scan.

‘Oh yes, the ceiling’s estimated to be worth eight million pounds,’ the Doctor replied without even thinking about it as the scan completed. It indicated that there was some localised alien energy on the fireplace. The Doctor, Jack, and Leah all looked at each other. All they needed now was a distraction.

‘Daddy, I feel hot,’ Leah said, tugging on Jack’s overcoat.

‘Ah, don’t worry, sweetheart, we’ll be done soon,’ Jack replied.

‘But I feel really, really …’

With a dramatic sway like an overwhelmed Victorian lady, Leah collapsed onto the floor.

‘Leah!’ Jack shrieked, diving to the little girl. ‘Leah! What’s wrong!? Leah! Talk to me!’

Everyone looked at them, shocked as the Doctor got down beside Leah. ‘Don’t worry sir, I’ve taken a course in First Aid!’ he declared to Jack.

‘ _ Leah! _ ’ Jack roared, accepting the sonic from the Doctor in a subtle exchange.

‘Calm down, sir!’ the Doctor said to Jack, pretending to check Leah’s life signs. 

‘Shall I call an ambulance?’ one of the tourists asked anxiously.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll deal with this. Please give us some space, ladies and gentlemen,’ the Doctor said. They didn’t seem to be shifting.

‘You enjoying this!?’ Jack shrieked at the crowd as he simultaneously took out the CCTV with the sonic. ‘Get out!’

It didn’t take them long to leave after that. After being sure that they were far enough away, Leah opened her eyes and sat up, beaming.

‘Nice one,’ the Doctor whispered, grinning and giving her a high-five. He received the sonic from Jack before dashing over to the fireplace.

‘Save her, dammit!’ Jack screamed for effect as they joined the Doctor, who was running the sonic around the edge of the fireplace. Half a second later there was a clunk, and the fireplace began to move.

‘I need you to calm down, sir!’ the Doctor replied, grinning at them as a secret passage was revealed – a set of stone steps leading down into the dark. They entered. With a quick sonic, the fireplace shifted back, and they were in the dark. Jack obligingly pulled out a torch and handed it to the Doctor.

‘Good job,’ the Doctor praised. ‘Allons-y.’

‘There was nothing on the schematics about this place having dungeons,’ Jack said, confused as they began to descend. ‘Cardiff Castle isn’t supposed to have any, just a prison tower.’

‘Well, I doubt they’d ever be found with that forcefield,’ the Doctor said. ‘That was a complex modulating frequency double lock forcefield – pretty much impossible for humans to open.’

‘So something’s purposely put that forcefield up to keep humans out,’ Jack surmised.

‘Or to keep something  _ in,’  _ the Doctor countered, and they continued to descend.

* * *

_ ‘Temperature 13 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 3:09pm.’  _

‘We went all the way down to the dungeons. They were pretty intact,’ Jack said. ‘We checked all the cells, but there wasn’t much. Leah spotted these footprints made from iron rust on the floor running along the cells, like some knights in iron armour had been stood there for a long time and then got moved. Then we hit the storage rooms. There was one with some empty crates, one with some old rusted armour in it, then we found the last room …’

* * *

_ ‘... And that’s when things got seriously weird.’ _

‘Whoa,’ Jack said, staring.

‘Cool!’ Leah enthused.

Inside the last room were the missing knight statues in various states of rust, stood in an unbroken circle, facing inwards. Through the gaps, they spotted a single sword, plunged into a lump of large rock in the centre of the ring. Next to the sword was a knight in golden-coloured armour.

‘Wow, whoever moved these knights had a sense of humour,’ Jack said, laughing. ‘That’s great.’

The Doctor grinned, shooting them both a look before he moved forward, ducking between the knights to get into the circle, and stood next to the sword.

‘Watch out, they might cleave you,’ Jack joked.

The Doctor’s grin widened, utterly delighted with what he was seeing. He ran the sonic down the sword, and then around the circle of knights, accidentally knocking the golden knight as he did so. ‘Whoops, sorry Arthur,’ the Doctor apologised and checked the readings. ‘No alien energy here.’

‘Pull out the sword!’ Leah demanded. 

The Doctor’s grin was now so broad it was nearly at his ears. ‘Whoso pulleth out this sword from this stone, is rightwise King born of all England,’ he quoted, and took the handle. It took some doing, but eventually, it came out. ‘Good weight, bit blunt,’ he commented, weighing the sword in his hands. ‘Bit basic.’

Shrugging, he ran the sonic down the golden knight. ‘Wow, Arthur’s nearly solid gold,’ he said, impressed. ‘With a …’

He stopped as his eyes widened.

‘What?’ Jack asked.

‘Titanium nitride coating,’ he muttered.

‘That’s not very medieval,’ Jack mused.

Brief silence, and then the Doctor dived. Half a second later, every knight in the room stood to attention, pulling their weapons. The Doctor only just about got out of the circle before they lunged forward to the point he’d been stood.

Jack grabbed Leah and ran out the door, the Doctor joining them half a second later. He slammed the door closed, wincing at the consequential pain in his shoulder from the sudden movement.

‘What the hell?’ Jack cried.

‘Start running!’ the Doctor ordered.

* * *

_ ‘Temperature 13 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 3:13pm.’  _

‘It looked like you pulling the sword out had somehow activated them,’ Jack said. ‘We had all the knights after us. We couldn’t take them upstairs because you’d broken the forcefield, so we had to give them the runaround in the dungeon. They were pretty slow, so it wasn’t too hard, but they seemed to know our exact routes. We eventually found a good stronghold …’

* * *

_ ‘... Where you had to come up with a plan.’ _

‘Right,’ the Doctor began, ‘facts. What do we know?’

‘Nothing,’ Jack replied honestly.

‘No, come on. What are Lancelot and company made of? Iron, or rather, an iron alloy. Leah, what kind of iron is going to be in plate armour made in around the 15th century?’ he directed at his five-year-old.

‘Um …’

‘Hit me,’ he encouraged.

‘Err … wrought iron?’

‘Yep. So what’s in this iron alloy?’

‘Err, iron,  carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, silicon, and manganese?’

‘Which two elements have the most content in wrought iron?’

‘Iron and carbon.’

‘Yep. So let’s think. How do we disable a suit that’s made of iron and  carbon?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Yeah, you do.’

Leah looked at him, bewildered. His eyes drifted to the backpack of things she’d bought, as a prompt. ‘An allotrope disphaser field?’ she asked, confused.

He smiled and nodded. ‘How?’

‘Err …’

‘What are the allotropes of carbon?’

She frowned. ‘Um, carbon has graphite, amorphous carbon, diamond, nanocarbons, glassy carbon, atomic and diatomic, and ...’

‘Okay, stop there. So which allotrope is going to be useful to us here? Narrow it down.’

‘Well … not amorphous or nanocarbons … err …’

‘Okay, let me put it another way,’ the Doctor said. ‘Which carbon allotrope is going to do the job we need it to do, and also looks the most impressive to all potential bystanders?’

Leah’s eyes widened. ‘Diamond!’

The Doctor grinned. ‘Now you’ve got it. Build me a My Little Pony allotrope disphaser field.’

‘Okay!’ she said, accepting his sonic for help as she immediately rummaged in her backpack for the things she’d bought.

‘What the hell are you talking about?’ Jack asked.

‘We’re going to reconstitute a very specific crystalline structure,’ the Doctor told him with a grin. ‘This armour has a small percentage of carbon in it, so if we do a bit of molecular shifting, it’s going to change its form, and with a bit of sonic help we’re going to target it specifically to a diamond crystalline structure.’

‘You’re gonna turn a suit of armour into diamonds,’ Jack surmised.

‘Yep.’

‘Jesus Christ.’

‘Leah, you’ve got five minutes,’ the Doctor told her. ‘Jack, guard the rear in case any decide to break off, I’ll give them the runaround.’

‘No, you won’t,’ Jack interrupted. ‘I’ll do that. You’re guarding the rear.’ 

And with that, Jack shot off.

‘I’ll be out here,’ the Doctor told his daughter. ‘Shout if you need me.’

‘Okay,’ Leah said, already working on her mechanism.

* * *

Jack returned just as Leah finished the device. 

‘I’m done!’ she said happily. 

‘Good, cos I think I’ve got the whole army on me,’ Jack replied, out of breath. ‘Where’s dad?’ 

‘He went that way,’ Leah said, pointing out the door. 

‘Stay here,’ Jack said, and went to look for the Doctor. He nearly tripped over him, having to stumble to avoid his body lying in the middle of the floor.

‘Shit, Doctor?’ Jack asked quickly, kneeling down next to him to check his pulse, just as his manipulator beeped. He checked the message.

**She’s gone into labour. G**


	4. The Once and Future King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor, Jack, and Leah are pursued by pseud-knights of Camelot as Rose goes into labour a mile away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the last labour and birth ... I can be forgiven for dragging it out a bit, right? :D

_ ‘Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 3:17pm.’  _

‘When Rose’s waters break you faint,’ Jack explained. ‘You couldn’t have picked a worse moment.’

‘I didn’t exactly pick it,’ the Doctor pointed out.

‘Yeah, I know, But it was still a pain in the ass. You were unconscious, all the knights were on my tail, and Leah was left right in their path.’

‘What did you do?’

‘What else could I do? I kept Leah close, grabbed you, and ran. Eventually, you came around and started panicking a bit. You said we had to get to the storeroom with the stone to activate the machine. Only problem was …’

* * *

_ ‘... You'd already started contracting.’ _

The Doctor stopped mid-run as he choked out during another contraction, stumbling to lean against the wall.

'Keep moving!’ Jack urged, doubling back for him. 'Leah, keep going!’ he instructed the girl, who obeyed and kept running back to the storeroom.

'Seven minutes apart, thirty seconds long,’ the Doctor gasped. 

‘Just pant, pant, pant …’

‘How can it be seven minutes already!?’

'Figure that out later!’ Jack replied, taking his arm. 'Now do your breathing exercises and hurry the hell up!’

Jack practically dragged the staggering Doctor up the hall. In the distance he could hear the knights in a steady, unrelenting march, gaining ground behind them. They finally reached the storeroom to meet Leah dragging the sword in one hand and holding My Little Pony in the other.

‘Now do your thing so you can go have a baby!’ Jack ordered the Doctor, just as his phone began to ring. He knew it would be Rose, and they just didn't have time for that right now. He decided to ignore it and instead started trying to secure the door by throwing his body weight against it.

The Doctor’s contraction finally ended, and he moved forward to take the My Little Pony from Leah. He pulled out his sonic and buzzed it, just as the heavy thuds against the door began. Jack pressed himself to the door even more, trying in vain to hold it back. There was nothing in the room he could use as a barricade. 'Hurry up!’ he cried.

'Nearly done!’ the Doctor insisted, still buzzing away.

‘Why the hell’s it taking so long!?’

‘The sonic seems to be working on half-power, I think there’s some kind of energy drain here …’

'Hold on,’ Leah suddenly said, wide-eyed. 'So the iron knights are gonna be made with carbon, but the gold one wouldn't be … would it?’

The Doctor shook his head, still sonicking. 'Arthur’s pure gold with a titanium nitride coating; there's no carbon in him.’

'So it's not gonna take him out!?’ Jack almost yelped as the knights put more force into getting the door open. 

'Not Arthur, no.'

‘So how the hell are we gonna -’

Another huge jolt against the door coupled with the sound it made told Jack that they'd pulled out their weapons.

‘Okay, here's the plan.’ The Doctor handed the My Little Pony back to Leah. 'Jack, when I say go, you get away from the door. Leah, when they step inside, throw the reconstitution pony right at their feet. I'll activate the sonic, and the pony will detonate, so everyone take cover. After that, we've just got Arthur to deal with. Everyone clear?’

'Okay,’ Leah said nervously.

‘Okay!’ Jack cried as the door jolted again.

The Doctor took Leah's arm and pulled her behind the rock for cover. Jack was just wondering where exactly he was supposed to go for cover when the Doctor threw his hand forward. 'Go!’

Jack jumped away from the door to the side, and it burst open. In marched the knights, and Leah promptly threw a well-placed pony straight at the metal greaves of the nearest knight. The Doctor sonicked, and the My Little Pony exploded.

The blast of gold light blinded Jack momentarily before he managed to refocus, to see the knights were collapsing. He'd been unconsciously expecting them all to suddenly be wearing diamond suits, but they were still mostly iron, just with patches of diamond, with quite a lot of them in and around the joints, causing the knights to stiffen up and fall. The only one left - Arthur - stood there for a moment, seemingly befuddled, before he started striding towards the Doctor.

The Doctor was about to enact his next plan when another contraction hit him. He yelled and staggered, holding his belly before he tripped backwards over the stone and hit the ground. Jack’s phone started ringing again as Arthur continued to advance on the now incredibly disadvantaged Doctor. Leah darted out of the way, ending up on the other side of the room as Arthur took the abandoned sword, and raised it above the Doctor’s head.

‘Uncle Jack!’ Leah screamed.

Still with his phone ringing, Jack threw himself at Arthur, but it was as though Arthur weighed twenty stone. Jack’s efforts to push him to the ground went absolutely nowhere. Arthur simply turned and violently threw Jack off of him, before redirecting his attention back to the Doctor, who hadn’t moved, and was attempting to do his breathing exercises. The phone stopped ringing again.

‘Talk to me!’ the Doctor cried out. ‘What do you want!? What’s your name?’

Arthur said nothing as he raised the sword again.

‘Daddy!’ Leah wailed, panicking.

‘Knyght, thou fyghtyst wondir well as evere I sawe knyghte!’ the Doctor suddenly yelled out, still in the midst of a contraction.

Arthur paused, staring at the Doctor.

‘Therfore, and hit please you, tell me your name!’ the Doctor continued.

‘That is me loth to telle ony man my name,’ Arthur suddenly said in a deep, almost electronic-sounding voice.

‘Truly, and I were requyred, I was never loth to tell my name!’

‘Ye sey well, than I requyre you to tell me your name.’

‘Fayre knyght, my name is Sir Doctor du Tardis!’ the Doctor gasped.

‘Fayre knyght, my name is Kyng Arthure,’ Arthur responded. 

‘I understonde that ye must be kynge of this land!’

‘For God will have hit soo, for ther shold never man have drawen oute this swerde by he that shal be rightwys kyng of this land,’ Arthur replied, and attacked.

The Doctor managed to roll out of the sword’s path, crying out as he did so. 

Jack rapidly decided this was a battle they were about to lose. ‘Leah, get back to the fireplace!’ he yelled at the five-year-old as he dived to the Doctor. He grabbed his nearest body part, which happened to be his bad arm, and pulled. The Doctor shrieked.

‘Sorry, sorry!’ Jack cried, managing to pull the Time Lord to his feet. ‘Pant, breathe, pant!’

His phone started ringing yet again as they jumped over the felled knights and started running back to the fireplace where they’d entered. Jack dragged the Doctor all the way up, who managed to give his sonic to Leah, who dutifully buzzed the fireplace. It opened, and they emerged back into the Arab Room of Cardiff Castle. With more sonicking from Leah, the fireplace shut and the crash of Arthur’s sabatons became muted.

For a moment, they just breathed as Jack’s phone continued to ring. He finally picked up.

_ ‘Jack, where the hell is he!?’  _ Rose shrieked.

'He’s here with me, we’re at Cardiff Castle …’ 

‘Is that Rose?’ the Doctor gasped, holding out a hand to receive the phone. Jack obligingly handed it over.

‘Contractions six minutes apart, forty seconds long,’ he moaned into the phone. She obviously replied as the Doctor readjusted himself. ‘... Rose, we’re working on it ... ‘

Jack grabbed his phone back. ‘We’re on our way, be there in ten!’ he yelled, just before the battery died. 

* * *

_ ‘Temperature 15 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 3:25pm.’  _

'This is a quick labour,’ the Doctor mused. 'Well, for a human. She's pretty much normal for that stuff with my children, is she?’

'Fairly,’ Jack answered, 'except the whole symptoms and labour pains thing of course. There was some trouble with Alex's birth, but we think that's because of the Shadow Proclamation.’

'What did they do?’

'Well, you remember Tony?’

'The one Rose killed - her brother?’

'Yeah, him,’ Jack confirmed. 'A couple of years back he gave them a tape from the future, that told them that one of your children was going to wipe them out. So they captured you, Rose, and Leah. You were tortured, Leah was tested, and to try and get your son out quicker they sped up the pregnancy. His labour was much worse than Leah's, so we thought it was connected, but we didn't know for sure.’

'Ah, okay. Carry on.’

‘So the labour was going so quick that we didn’t even have time to blink,’ Jack said. ‘We got out onto the street, but you were really starting to hurt. Your screaming was so loud …’

* * *

_ ‘... That we were the centre of attention.’ _

The Doctor was yelling a cacophony of alien swear words as he clung onto Jack’s arm, screaming in the middle of Cardiff High Street. People were stopping and staring at them.

‘Is he all right?’ a woman asked, concerned.

‘Shall I call an ambulance?’ a man offered.

‘Let me through, I’m a doctor!’ another man said, carving his way through the crowd. ‘Sir, take deep, measured breaths!’

‘He’s fine, really, he’s okay, we’ve got his medicine back home, so we just need to …’ Jack began, but nobody was listening as the medical doctor supported the Time Lord.

‘I’m Bryn, what’s your name?’ the medical doctor asked kindly.

‘John, his name’s John,’ Jack said quickly.

‘John, can you describe the pain?’

The Doctor only answered that with more screaming.

‘Shit, shit, shit,’ Jack muttered under his breath, jabbing his vortex manipulator to try and contact Torchwood but the power drain under the castle seemed to have taken it out. He couldn’t contact Torchwood, and he couldn’t leave the Doctor. Realising there was only one option, he turned desperately to Leah.

‘Leah, d’you think you can get back to Torchwood?’ he asked under the crowd.

The five-year-old nodded. ‘Yeah, I can.’

‘Be quick, don’t talk to anyone, just get back there and tell them that we need help,’ Jack said. ‘Look left, look right, all that stuff. Be safe.’

‘I know,’ Leah said.

‘Okay, go,’ Jack ordered, and she dashed off. Jack looked back at the Doctor, who was now on his knees, but seemed to finally be coming to the end of a contraction.

‘I’m fine,’ the Doctor gasped, ‘honest …’

‘Let’s get you to a hospital,’ Bryn said.

‘No, I’m okay, really …’ the Doctor whined, struggling to stand up again. ‘I just need to get back home …’

‘There’s an ambulance on the way!’ someone informed them.

‘I don’t want an ambulance … Jack!’

‘Honest, he’s fine, it’s a chronic gas thing …’ Jack tried to explain, but still no one was listening to him. He tried his phone and manipulator again, but neither worked. This was becoming very bad. He was going to have to do something drastic.

‘Excuse me!’ he yelled, ran forward, grabbed the Doctor’s hand and pulled him out of the circle.

‘Stop that man!’ someone cried. 

Someone lunged for him and managed to get a hold. The Doctor stumbled to a stop as Jack was restrained, and his coat flew back to reveal his gun in its holster to the entirety of Cardiff High Street.

‘Shit, he’s got a gun!’ someone yelled.

‘Run!’

Suddenly, there was total chaos. The crowd ran, terrified, allowing Jack to break free and grab the Doctor again. He led the Doctor through an alleyway into the next street, desperate to get out of view. They emerged next to a cafe of alert-looking people, who looked at them as they appeared with a handful of other screaming people.

‘What’s going on?’ a man asked.

‘There’s a guy with a gun!’ Jack yelled.

More panic ensued. Jack kept the Doctor’s arm firmly in his grip as he started sprinting again, and then another contraction hit. The Doctor screamed and stumbled to a stop.

Without any hesitation, Jack picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, and continued sprinting back to the Roald Dahl Plass. He could now hear sirens in the distance. This was going to be a hell of a cleanup operation, he mused, as he careered down Bute Street with a screaming Time Lord over his shoulder.

* * *

_ ‘Temperature 15 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 3:33pm.’  _

‘I’ve never run so fast in my life,’ Jack told him. ‘I managed to get us back in seven minutes. I delivered you to Ianto, who had a gurney ready to get you quickly to the infirmary. After I recovered a bit, I followed. I found you in a world of pain. You got a lot worse very quickly.’

‘Why don’t I just use painkillers?’ the Doctor wondered, confused.

‘Because you’ve never been sure if the drugs that would help you in labour might somehow hurt the baby as he’s being born through your weird connection with Rose,’ Jack said. ‘You’ve not wanted to risk it.’

‘Makes sense,’ the Doctor supposed.

‘So there we were, me, Ianto, Martha, and Jackie, time was going on, Rose’s dilation had slowed, and you were getting so bad …’

* * *

_ ‘... You were starting to scare us.’ _

‘C’mon, Doc,’ Jack urged, holding the Time Lord’s hand. The Doctor was sweating and shaking, curled up into a ball of mess on the bed. ‘Just a bit to go.’

‘How is he?’ Rose asked anxiously from the next bed, holding her mum’s hand.

‘He’s passed out,’ Jack said.

Martha moved over to check the monitors attached to him. ‘His hearts rate has plummeted, I’ve never seen his blood pressure so low,’ she said. ‘He’s going into shock.’

‘What do we do?’ Rose asked anxiously. ‘I’m not even halfway yet.’

‘Let me think,’ Martha said, hand on her head. ‘Jack, lie him on his back with his feet up, loosen up his clothes, keep him warm, and give him some oxygen. I’ll check the cupboard to see if there’s anything.’

Jack nodded and indicated for Ianto to help as Martha left.

‘Don’t let him die,’ Rose suddenly begged.

‘Not on my watch,’ Jack told her as he worked. 

‘He’s gonna be fine, sweetheart, we’ve been through this before, and he was okay,’ Jackie assured her daughter.

‘No, no …’ the Doctor suddenly drawled as he came around again, his eyes opening ever so slightly as Jack held an oxygen mask to his face.

‘Doctor, relax,’ Jack ordered him. ‘We’re sorting you out.’

The Doctor gasped and choked, holding his belly again. ‘Please ... s-stop,’ he begged, his sunken eyes looking at Jack.

‘It will stop, just stay with us,’ Jack told him, lifting the Doctor’s head to slip over the mask.

‘I’ll … I’ll d-do anything,’ the Doctor gasped. ‘St-stop hurting m-me …  _ please.’ _

That made Jack hesitate. ‘I’m not hurting you, I swear I’m not.’

‘Doctor, I’m here,’ Rose said quickly.

The Doctor’s eyes shot open. ‘Rose … no … g-get out.’

‘It’s okay,’ Jack repeated for what felt like the 96th time. 

‘D-don’t hurt … don’t hurt h-her …  _ please …’ _

‘She’s safe,’ Jack assured him. ‘We’re in the Tardis, we’re all safe.’

‘Rose …’ the Doctor moaned.

Jackie took that as a cue to help her daughter up and over to the Doctor. Rose took his hand in both of hers, sitting on the bed by his side.

‘I’m here,’ she said again. ‘I’m right here.’

‘D-don’t let him … d-don’t l-let him do to you what he … what he’s d-doing to … me.’

‘It’s just Jack,’ she told him, her eyes filling up. ‘He’s not hurtin’ you.’

‘H-he doesn’t … doesn’t  _ care  _ wh-what we … what w-we feel _ ,’  _ the Doctor stressed, spasming a little.

‘I don’t think he’s talking about you,’ Ianto muttered to Jack.

Jack leant forward again. He knew exactly who the Doctor was talking about. ‘Doctor, we’re safe. You’re having a baby, you’re not with anyone that's going to hurt you.’

‘Don’t … don't …’ the Doctor gasped, and passed out again.

'Oh god,’ Rose muttered, crying now. 'Don’t let him die …  _ please  _ don't let him die.’

'I told you, not on my watch,’ Jack said sternly, putting the oxygen mask on the Doctor and adjusting the blanket. Martha reemerged holding something. Jack turned straight away, alert and hopeful.

‘What you got?’ he asked.

Martha hesitated, glancing at Rose. ‘Were these the pills Brax gave you?’ she asked, holding up a pill bottle with two capsules inside.

‘Yeah …’ Rose replied, wary. ‘But you can’t use it.’

‘Pills?’ Jackie asked, confused.

‘When Brax came for the baby shower he gave Rose and the Doctor a pill each to solve some problems. One was supposed to help the Doctor’s pain during labour,’ Jack explained. ‘But now we know Brax was lying his face off most of that time, those pills might not even do what he said they do. Maybe they’ll do something worse to him.’

‘That’s bad odds,’ Ianto realised.

‘You’re not givin’ him it,’ Rose said quickly. ‘I won’t let you.’

‘I know it’s risky, but there’s nothing else that can possibly help him,’ Martha stressed.

‘I won’t let you!’ Rose yelled.

‘Hold on, let’s get a reality check here,’ Jack said, his hands up. ‘Martha, if he doesn’t get pain relief soon, what’s the worst case scenario?’

She bit her lip, looking pained. ‘If Rose doesn’t dilate enough soon then he’s going to go deeper and deeper into shock. His blood pressure’s going to go through the floor, his hearts rate will reduce, he may have a few seizures when he gets starved of oxygen to his brain. He’ll probably go into hearts failure, and if he lives, his internal organs will be permanently damaged, plus the psychological effects will be … well, you know. Plus, he won’t be conscious to tell us when he’s contracting, so Theo and Rose could be hurt, too.’

‘Could he regenerate?’

‘I don’t know,’ Martha muttered.

‘Okay. So if the Doctor takes the pill and it’s bad, what’s the worst case scenario?’

‘Well if Brax made it with bad intentions … then he would’ve made something that’s capable of killing him,’ she said, her voice shaking a little. ‘He could die immediately and maybe permanently depending on what Brax made.’

A brief silence fell on the group.

‘So, it’s a choice between a prolonged death or permanent damage for him, Rose, and Theo, or it’s a probably immediate and permanent death for him,’ Jack surmised.

No one dared to look at each other.

‘Look, Brax made this pill when he delivered the toys for Leah and Theo, including the trunkike that meant a lot to the Doctor. The one that had a help note inside it,’ Jack continued. ‘At that point, Brax didn’t have a reason to kill the Doctor. He seemed to be himself then. So logically it should do what he said it would. Kill the labour pains.’

‘But Brax knew the Doctor wouldn’t need it for a while,’ Ianto pointed out. 

Jack swore, head in his palm. ‘There’s absolutely nothing else we can do?’ he asked Martha anxiously.

‘Short of going to get information from Braxiatel, no,’ Martha muttered.

‘And he’d never tell us,’ Jack agreed. ‘Okay. Rose,’ he looked at the woman, who was clearly petrified. ‘I’ll take this decision if you want me to, but we won’t give him anything without your consent.’

She whined and started crying. ‘I … don’t know.’

‘What would he want, sweetheart?’ Jackie asked kindly. 

Everyone already knew the answer to that, and nothing else needed to be said.

‘Okay,’ Rose said quietly, brushing back the Time Lord’s hair. 'Okay ... let's do it.’

Martha nodded. 'Get him into the emergency room.’


	5. Torchwood’s Newest Recruit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The complicated birth of Theo continues.

_ ‘Temperature 15 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 3:39pm.’  _

'Why bother moving me?’ the Doctor wondered. 'Waste of time, wasn't it?’

'I dunno, but I'm guessing that if the pill was bad, she didn't want Rose to see what it did to you. For all we knew, you could’ve started having a hearts attack or started bleeding out.’

'Oh,’ the Doctor muttered.

‘So we got you into the emergency room and managed to get you to swallow the pill when you came around.’

‘I take it it worked because I’m still here,’ the Doctor assumed.

‘Well, err …’

* * *

_ ‘... I dunno if “worked” is the right word.’ _

There were a few anxious minutes as they waited to see if anything would happen as the result of Brax’s pill. Martha prepared to launch into emergency care in case the pill was more ominous. 

After a while, the Doctor seemed to sink into a low state of consciousness, but at least now he wasn’t scared. All Jack could do was sit by him, watching the monitors, and trying to get some conversation.

‘Doctor, can you talk to me?’

‘Mmm.’

‘That’s not talking to me.’

‘Mmm.’

‘How’s he doing?’ Martha asked, coming back in from the infirmary.

‘Dunno,’ Jack admitted. ‘Vitals are much better than they were. Doctor, give me a sentence.’

‘Doctor, how are you feeling?’ Martha asked, watching the hearts rate monitor closely.

It took a moment for the Doctor to react before he looked vaguely in her direction, and lifted his hand to give a close approximation of an OK hand signal. ‘Yeeeeah,’ he drawled out, sounding incredibly drunk.

‘Are you hurting?’

‘Amma what?’ he slurred out.

‘Hurting? Are you in pain?’

‘Naah,’ he said with an over-enthusiastic shake of his head. ‘Am in … err … where ama?’

‘You’re in the Tardis,’ Martha told him.

‘Oh, okay,’ the Doctor replied, licking his lips and closing his eyes, ‘Am in the Tardis. Wha’ ‘appened?’

‘D’you remember we had to give you a pill to get rid of the pain?’ Martha asked.

‘I gotta pill?’ he asked in a high-pitched voice. Jack tried desperately not to laugh.

‘Yes, to help you through labour pains,’ Martha told him.

‘Oh,’ the Doctor said, looking around in a daze and slamming his hands on the rails of the bed in a strange, compulsive way.

‘Can you still feel the contractions?’ Martha persisted.

‘The wha’?’

‘The contractions,’ she repeated.

‘Wha’ are dey?’ he asked, dribbling slightly. Jack obligingly grabbed a cloth and mopped it up.

‘They feel like something pulling on your belly,’ Martha said. Jack seriously didn’t know how she was keeping a straight face.

‘Oh,’ the Doctor said again. After a very long pause, he started frowning. ‘Naaah.’

‘Okay, let me know if you feel any,’ she said and checked the monitors he was attached to. ‘Blood pressure’s a bit low … oh.’

‘What?’ Jack asked.

‘Look at his brainwaves.’

Jack did, and blinked, surprised. ‘But that says he’s in REM sleep.’ He looked at the Doctor, who was now dribbling again and making some strange gestures with his fingers. Jack took care of the dribble. The Doctor didn’t even appear to notice him doing it.

‘How can he be asleep?’ Martha wondered.

‘Just be glad he’s still breathing and, well,  _ semi- _ lucid.’

‘Doctor, what are you doing?’ Martha asked the Time Lord.

‘If ah put mah fingars together they make a long big fingah!’ he replied, beaming as he showed it to them. ‘I’ve nevah done that before!’

Jack snorted with laughter.

‘Well, he seems to be okay, I’ll let Rose know,’ Martha said and disappeared back into the infirmary.

‘Bye … whoever you are …’ the Doctor muttered.

Jack smirked. ‘You feeling okay, though?’

‘Ah feel like … Ah feel like ah … ah … potato.’

Jack laughed that time.

‘Wos so funneh?’ the Doctor wondered.

‘Nothing, Doctor,’ Jack assured him.

‘Wanna heara joke?’

‘Sure.’

‘Why dida chicken cross der road?’

‘To get to the other side?’

The Doctor looked crushed. ‘Yah ruined it.’

Jack laughed again. ‘Sorry.’

‘Ish tha bed movin’?’ the Doctor suddenly asked.

‘Err, no, it’s not moving,’ Jack replied.

‘Oh. Ah feel like is movin’,’ he said, hitting his hands on the side rails again like he was trying to get some feeling in them. Ugh, I’m sho … sho … I’m sho ...’

‘You’re so what?’

‘Sho … oooh!?’ he interrupted himself, his hand moving to his belly.

‘What? Got a contraction?’

‘Oh, that’s  _ weeeird.  _ Oh, is still goin’. Oh, it won’t shtop. I got summat inside meh. I gotta thing. Gotta tapeworm. I gotta thing.’

Jack ducked his head out the door. ‘Martha, he’s contracting.’

‘I ain’t contrachted to anyone,’ the Doctor slurred out and looked vacantly at Jack. ‘I gotta tapeworm in meh you gotta geh it out.’

‘It’s not a worm, Doctor.’

‘But dere’s a thing,’ he insisted, his eyes welling up. ‘Imma gonna die!’

Jack dearly wished he had a video camera. ‘You’re fine, it’s not a worm.’

Martha came in, pushing a wheelchair.

‘Hey um, um, human pershon, I gotta worm in meh, and he don’t care,’ the Doctor wailed.

‘You’ve not got a worm, Doctor. You’re just contracting,’ Martha told him.

‘Why doesh no one believe meh!?’ he whined, and started crying.

Martha rolled her eyes. ‘C’mon Doctor, Rose is waiting for you.’

‘Wose?’ he repeated, wiping drunkenly at his wet eyes.

‘Yeah, your wife, you know?’

‘Oh, Wose.’

‘Yeah. She’s giving birth to your kid right now,’ Jack clarified.

‘Oh. I fought ah I was gi’ing birth?’

‘Yeah, that’s a debated topic,’ Jack said. ‘C’mon, let’s get you up.’

He moved to help the Doctor sit up, who looked at the wheelchair. ‘Ish thish mah ride?’

‘Yeah, it’s your ride,’ Jack said, grinning. ‘I’m gonna lift you up …’

He carefully helped him up and guided him to sit down in the wheelchair, before lifting his feet on the footrests. The Doctor kept moving them off again.

‘Stop moving your feet,’ Jack said.

‘Jack …’ the Doctor started, apparently not even having heard him.

‘Yeah?’

‘Y’know all dah fish in der shea?’

‘Um, yeah?’

‘Why don’t dey drown?’

Jack looked at Martha, who was finally giggling a little. ‘Y’know what Doc, let’s just get back to Rose first, then we’ll start on fish anatomy.’

‘But dey all shinking,’ the Doctor protested. ‘Jack, we gotta save der fish!’

‘They’re fine where they are, Doctor,’ Jack assured him, finally managing to get the Time Lord’s feet in place before he grabbed the handles and they headed back into the Infirmary where Rose was waiting, anxious.

‘Is he …’ she began.

‘Wose!’ the Doctor bellowed, throwing out his arms and nearly hitting Martha in the face. ‘Wose ish me!’

Rose looked very confused. ‘Doctor, what …’

‘Wose, who are dese people?’ he slurred out as Jack parked the wheelchair next to a bed and helped him sit on it.

Rose got up and moved to him, taking a seat next to him on the bed. ‘Jack and Martha.’

‘Oh yer, ah forgot,’ the Doctor murmured, and fell onto her for a hug as he giggled. ‘Wose, dey won’t take meh sh … sheer … sheerioushly.’

‘About what?’

‘I gotta tapeworm in meh and dey laugh!’

Jack laughed again. ‘I’m gonna get a camera …’

‘Don’t you dare,’ Rose said, laughing too.

‘He asked me why all the fish in the sea don’t drown,’ Jack insisted. ‘I’m dying to play this back to him.’

‘Ah! Wormy’s bahck,’ the Doctor said, hand on his belly. 

‘You’re contracting?’ Martha asked.

‘Issa worm! Ah had a worm in meh before, he wash called Brian, and he liked Elgar. Issit Brian ‘gain?’

Rose giggled. ‘Nah, it’s not Brian.’

‘Aww, ah mish him,’ the Doctor said. 

‘Bloody hell,’ Jackie muttered, staring at the Time Lord.

‘It’s not a worm, it’s a baby called Theo,’ Jack said helpfully.

The Doctor thought about that. ‘Doesh he like Elgar?’

‘We don’t know yet.’

‘Awww. Sho …’ the Doctor started, looking at Martha. ‘Wassa plan, Stan?’ he asked, and promptly giggled at his own lame joke.

‘We need to check Rose’s dilation to see if we can start pushing,’ Martha said patiently.

‘Naaah dun’t leave meh,’ the Doctor moaned, holding onto Rose.

‘I’m gonna be three feet away,’ she told him.

‘Okay, but am gonna hold yer hand,’ he said.

* * *

_ ‘Temperature 15 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 3:45pm.’  _

‘So Brax’s pill was basically something to get me completely off of my head,’ the Doctor surmised.

Jack laughed. ‘Oh, yeah. It did its job, though. You weren’t in any pain, and you  _ were  _ lucid enough to tell us when you were contracting. After a bit, Rose finally got dilated enough to start pushing. I think the whole labour took about three hours altogether, but you did help the time pass by singing.’

‘Singing?’ the Doctor repeated, slightly winded.

‘Oh yeah, you worked your way through a load of totally random stuff, but we didn’t want to shut you up since it let us know you were okay. When Theo arrived …’

* * *

_ ‘... You were in the middle of Bohemian Rhapsody.’ _

‘I she a liddle silhouette-o of a man,’ the Doctor sang loudly. ‘Scaramouch, scaramouch will ya do da fandango …’

‘Doctor, are you contracting?’ a woman's voice asked from the aether of the Doctor's perception. He still couldn't remember her name, he mused, but she seemed to be a doctor of sorts.

‘No-no-nos of lightning no-no very no no ME!’ he sang in the tune of the song as the music rolled around in his head, slamming his fists in time with the beat on the bed covers. 

'Okay, take a breath, steady yourself,’ the woman told Rose as he sang “Galileo”. 'I can see the top of his head, so it's not long now …’

The Doctor turned his head to look at the chaos happening in the next bed. ‘Am just a poorh boy! Nobohdy luves meh!’

‘Couple more pushes, and we should be there …’

Rose nodded, sweating a little and panting. She looked at him, her eyes shining. Instinctively he held out a hand across the gap, and she took it.

‘You doin’ goo’,’ he slurred out, offering her a wonky smile. 

She smiled back with tears in her eyes. 

‘We will nod led you go! Led me go! We’ll nod led ya go! Let meh goh! Nevah nevah nevah nevah led me gooo oh oh oh ohhhh, no, no, no, no, no, no, … AH! Wormy’sh bahck,’ he interrupted himself as the contraction hit.

‘Okay, push!’

‘Beelshebub hassa devil pud ashide for meee, for meeee, for MEEEEEEE!’ he shrieked.

* * *

_ ‘Temperature 15 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 3:50pm.’  _

‘She gave birth to a nine pound thirteen ounce bouncing baby boy right when you were singing the final “nothing really matters to me”,’ Jack told him. 

The Doctor squirmed a little as something primal rose up within him. A bond, filled with the urge to protect and guard a tiny little thing, was making itself obvious.

‘You were so out of it you went straight to sleep before the placenta was even out …’

* * *

_ ‘... So we were left welcoming Theo to the Universe.’ _

Ianto, Jackie, and Martha were all gathered around Jack, who was sitting on Rose’s bed in the infirmary cradling the newborn boy, all smiling.

'Aww, look at you,’ Jack said to the little boy, who was swaddled in blankets and staring up at him with big brown eyes, looking a bit confused at what was happening. ‘Welcome to Torchwood. I officially dub you our newest honorary member.’

'How ‘ave ‘is eyes already turned brown?’ Jackie wondered. 'I thought baby eyes weren't s’posed to change from blue for a while.’

‘He’s probably developed enough melanin in his irises already,’ Martha replied. ‘They still might change, though.’

‘Alien super baby,’ Jack reminded her, grinning and looking down at the boy. ‘You don't know this yet, but you're gonna grow up to save the universe. Aren't you? Goo goo.’

‘And the baby talk begins,’ Ianto said, smirking.

Jack shrugged, not really caring. ‘Goo goo, ba ba,’ he said, bopping the little one’s nose gently. He looked at Rose. ‘Hey, I’ve just realised this is the first one of your kids I’ve held who hasn’t immediately started crying.’

‘Well, I think he owes quite a lot to you,’ Martha said, beaming and Rose giggled.

Jack widened his grin and looked down at little Theo again. ‘Well, clearly his dad ain’t interested, so I hope that means he’s mine, now,’ he joked, glancing at the Doctor in the next bed, buried under the blankets fast asleep with the heart rate monitor beeping out a settled dual rhythm. 

‘How’s he lookin’?’ Rose wondered.

Martha moved to the Doctor to do a quick check. ‘Hearts ready steady, brain waves are starting to pick back up again. I think the drug’s wearing off.’

‘You think he’ll have any long-term effects?’ Rose wondered.

‘No idea. Hopefully, he’ll wee the drug out next time he goes to the loo,’ she said, and moved back to the baby. ‘My turn to hold him!’ she declared, holding out her arms.

‘Excuse me, who’s the grandmother?’ Jackie pointed out.

‘Hey, I brought him into the Universe,’ Martha protested, laughing.

‘Granny comes first,’ Jack said, and very gently placed him in his grandmother’s arms. As Jackie fawned over her grandson, Jack realised someone significant was missing.

‘Wait … where’s Leah?’ he asked, looking around. 

‘Hi Theo!’ a little girl yelled from the doorway, on cue. Everyone turned and immediately saw Leah standing there, beaming from ear-to-ear. She ran forward to greet her new little brother.

* * *

Martha made sure to do a proper check over of the Doctor when he woke up, with the deepest scans and tests she could possibly do to make sure he was okay. The Doctor didn’t have the energy to stop her. Besides, Rose was sitting next to him, making sure he did it.

‘God, my head hurts,’ the Doctor moaned. ‘I feel like I’ve died and been dragged back up from Hell by an angry baboon.’

‘That’s what happens when you’re on a comedown,’ Jack said, holding Theo.

‘Just how high was I?’ the Doctor asked seriously.

‘About the level of a Concorde,’ Rose joked, hugging him.

‘I can’t believe you risked giving me that pill,’ the Doctor said seriously. ‘Anything could’ve happened.’

‘We didn’t have much choice,’ Martha replied, taking some of his blood. ‘You were in a really bad way. How much do you remember?’

‘Not much. Last thing I remember …’ He thought for a moment, stretching back through his memory. ‘... Err, did you play Bohemian Rhapsody?’

‘We didn’t play it, you sang it,’ Jack replied. ‘Did all the voices.’

‘Oh,’ the Doctor moaned, a hand on his head

‘You were pretty good if that helps,’ Jack added, grinning. 

The Doctor pulled a face as Martha finished taking his blood and took it to the scanner. He looked at Theo, holding out his arms. Jack dutifully handed the newborn to his dad.

‘I’d better go and make some amendments to the party,’ Jack mused.

‘What?’ the Doctor asked.

‘Your birthday party. Only now it’s a joint birthday party,’ Jack said, grinning. ‘Though you’ve got no food left, by the way.’

The Doctor rolled his eyes. ‘Wonder why? In the meantime, a cup of tea would be great.’

Jack nodded, looking around. ‘Anyone else?’

‘Yes, please,’ Rose agreed.

‘And for me!’ Martha shouted as she disappeared into a side room.

Jack sighed and left as the Doctor and Rose looked down at the little boy, perfectly content in his dad’s arms.

‘We can’t do this again,’ Rose suddenly said.

The Doctor looked at her, but didn’t say anything.

‘That was worse than Alex,’ she said. ‘Ten times as worse.’

‘That bad?’ the Doctor wondered. 

‘Martha was saying things like you and Theo getting brain damage and stuff,’ she said. ‘She said you were in so much pain you could be mentally messed up or dead by the end of it. I’ve never been so scared. Every baby we have it’s just gettin’ worse and worse.’

He nodded. ‘Then that’s easy. We’re not doing it again. The end.’

‘Not so easy,’ Rose reminded him. ‘How do we stop it?’

He sighed. ‘Well, giving me the snip doesn’t work, we tried that, I just keep healing, so I’m impossible to stop.’

‘Then it’s up to me, like, a hysterectomy?’ she supposed.

He sighed, closing his eyes. ‘I don’t have the equipment for that in the Tardis. You’d have to go the conventional route … I’ll have to let Unit know I’m not dead so they could do it. But I don’t want you to go through surgery.’

‘I don’t mind,’ Rose said. ‘Anyway I can just go to a hospital, we don’t even need Unit for that, yeah? I’m sure Jack could get me a false identity and stuff for extra protection.’

He didn’t answer that, just looking down at his son. ‘Of course, the alternative is …’ He paused briefly, looking at her. ‘... Brax’s pill.’

She frowned. ‘You think it’ll work?’

‘He did say your pill would stop this from happening again,’ the Doctor pointed out, nodding vaguely at the newborn. ‘My one worked exactly as he said it would. Maybe … it’ll be fine?’

‘Maybe,’ Rose murmured. ‘Can’t you analyse it? Find out what’s in that pill?’

‘No,’ the Doctor replied. ‘I can’t do that without destroying it completely. And who knows what's in that thing. Ingredients that we can't recreate, maybe.’

‘Okay,’ she said, thinking, ‘so. Let’s think. List the facts.’

‘All right,’ he said. ‘Fact one, we don’t want any more babies.’

‘Agreed.’

‘Fact two, I can’t be stopped.’

‘Yep.’

‘Fact three, I don’t want you to have surgery.’

‘Okay.’

‘Fact four … we have no idea what this pill Brax made could do to you.’

‘Yeah.’

‘Fact five …’ He paused, clicking his tongue in contemplation. ‘Err … I’ve run out of facts.’

She giggled. ‘Yeah. That’s it.’

‘Let me think about it,’ he said, looking back down at Theo. ‘I’ll come up with something.’

She nodded, hugging him. ‘Yeah, you usually do.’

He looked down at her. Ever since he’d started being her Dream Guardian, she’d become much more like her old self. Much less stressed, and much less depressed. More like Rose. 

At least something had been solved, he mused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To echo those immortal words ... I'll be back!


	6. Baby Snatchers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack realises there’s something ominous headed their way.

_ ‘Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 4:09pm.’  _

‘A few days went by,’ Jack said. ‘Pretty uneventful, you guys were up all hours looking after Theo, and Torchwood had a few things to sort out. You were still doing your Dream Guardian thing, and it was working perfectly. It was Monday morning, and we were doing our usual meeting. It was pretty hard to get everyone together. We’d split up into two Torchwoods a few months before - one in Cardiff, the other under the Tate in London. You, Rose, me, Ianto, and Gwen were in Cardiff, and Martha, Mickey, and Seth were in the Tate. Brax had been with them ... until he went insane.’

‘Who’s Seth?’ the Doctor wondered.

‘Human teenager from the year six billion,’ Jack supplied. ‘We met him when we had to go to Sirrus.’

‘You mean the notorious planet full of criminals and no law whatsoever?’

‘Yeah, that one,’ Jack replied. ‘He was part of the underground, where the good guys were. His brother was murdered by the dictator. After it was all over, you decided to take him with you because he didn’t have anything left.’

‘Oh,’ the Doctor murmured, frowning. 

‘He settled in pretty well. Anyway, so there we were …’

* * *

_ ‘... Ready for the usual Monday briefing.’ _

Jack, Martha, Ianto, and Gwen were in the conference room in Torchwood Three. Jack was sitting at the head of the table.

Jack watched the clock tick its final second as it hit 10am. ‘Okay, meeting start. Any apologies?’ 

‘Err,’ Ianto began, checking a piece of paper. ‘Seth is ill, Mickey’s looking after Torchwood Tate, and the Doctor and Rose aren’t here, on account they’ve just had a baby.’

‘Well obviously,’ Jack replied, rolling his eyes. ‘Okay, What’s first?’

‘Clean up from your high street gun problems,’ Ianto said.

‘How are we doing on that?’

‘We think we’ve cleared everything,’ Ianto said. ‘Police records have been amended, CCTV changed, social media posts checked and phone footage deleted on all networks. We should be in the clear.’

‘Eyewitnesses?’

‘No one’s come forward yet. There’s a little bit in the local paper, but it’s been changed to say it was confusion about a local street theatre production,’ Ianto said.

Jack grinned. ‘Good story. Okay, what about Cardiff Castle?’

‘We’ve spread a rumour that a little girl was taken to the hospital and is in a stable condition,’ Ianto replied.

‘What about Arthur and company?’

‘We’ve been scanning it constantly, and there’s no activity,’ Gwen said, ‘so we’re assuming whatever it was is now dormant. We’ll keep monitoring it.’

‘Okay, Martha. Medical updates,’ Jack said, turning to her.

‘Seth is off with the flu, but he’ll be fine,’ Martha said. ‘Doctor’s looking normal after the drug. He’s still got some problems in his shoulder, but he‘s healing at his normal rate. All the kids are fine, including newest.’

‘And Rose?’

‘I haven’t done her medical yet, but the Doctor’s keeping an eye on her and he’ll let me know.’

‘Good,’ Jack said, nodding. ‘So what’s this week’s itinerary?’

‘Well,’ Gwen began, ‘we’ve got …’

‘JACK!’ came a sudden yell from somewhere down in the Hub, accompanied by the screaming of a baby.

Jack sighed and went to the door to stick his head out. ‘What?’

The Doctor was standing there, look decidedly dishevelled, with a crying baby in one arm and a bottle in the other. ‘Help me!’

‘What is it?’

‘I need nappies!’

‘Then go get some!’

‘I can’t, I …’ The latter of the Doctor’s sentence lost under the crying infant.

‘I can’t hear you!’ Jack shouted.

‘Hold on!’ 

The Doctor moved to Jack, with Theo’s screaming getting even more deafening as he approached, along with the smell of rancid baby poo. The Doctor shoved the bottle he was holding in Jack’s hand and gave a vague “hello” wave to the others in the meeting room.

‘Jack, I can’t go anywhere! Rose is out on that spa planet! Shush, Theo, shuuush …’

‘How have you run out of nappies already!?’

‘Shuuush, Dad’s sorting it … I swear, he’s like a drain!’ the Doctor complained. ‘And he won’t stop screaming!’

‘Just take him and get some nappies!’

‘Oh yes, let’s take the three-day-old out on the hottest day of the year so far, that’s a great idea! Theo, shuuush, shuush …’

Martha got up. ‘I’ll get some!’ she offered.

‘Wait, I’ve got a better idea!’ Jack said, pulling out his phone. ‘Grandma!’

‘Oh no,’ the Doctor moaned, ‘please, no! She’ll be ranting at me for not adequately provisioning for her grandson! Theo, Shuuush!’

Jack ignored him and dialled anyway.

* * *

Ten minutes later Jackie arrived in a blaze of glory, sporting two massive bags of nappies. The Doctor ran to her straight away, still holding the crying, stinky child.

‘I can’t believe you didn’t get enough nappies for ‘im!’ she berated, plonking the bags at his feet. ‘How many times ‘ave you done this, now?’

The Doctor ignored the jibe. ‘Thanks!’ he said, grabbing a pack and bolting back into the TARDIS.

Jackie watched him go, hands on her hips, sighing. ‘Bloody useless,’ she moaned and turned to Jack and the others, who were still trying to recover their hearing from screaming Theo. ‘God, the shop was packed today. Then on the way back, I got stopped by these two weird men.’

'On the Plass?’ Gwen asked suddenly.

'Yeah.’

‘One with glasses and the other with a black bomber jacket?’ 

‘Yeah, that’s it,’ Jackie said.

‘What?’ Jack asked, looking at Gwen.

‘They were here when I got in this morning,’ Gwen told him.

Jack frowned. ‘What did they want, Jackie?’

Jackie shrugged. ‘They just asked the time, but they must’ve been idiots cos they were both wearin’ watches,’ she said, and picked up the bags of nappies to follow the Doctor into the TARDIS.

Jack thought about that for a moment, and then grabbed his coat. ‘I need to look.’

* * *

_ ‘Temperature 13 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 4:16pm.’  _

‘I went up and saw them without looking too hard,’ Jack explained. ‘They were by one of the pillars near the Millennium Centre. I knew exactly who they were. My insides literally froze. You and me … we’d been dreading this for a while.’

‘Who were they?’ the Doctor asked.

‘I’ll describe them and see if you can guess,’ Jack said. ‘So, we had two humanoid men in dark clothes, armed with dyphobian lasers …’

* * *

_ ‘... Standing around where a gallifreyan baby had just been born.’ _

‘The Bar’zellis,’ the Doctor realised, holding Theo a little closer.

‘Who?’ Martha asked, confused.

‘They’re an organisation you wouldn’t want to be a part of,’ Jack explained. ‘Call them like, the space version of the yakuza. You remember when we were on Sirrus, the criminal planet?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Well, the continent we were on was owned by the Va'A'gnorn family. The Bar’zellis owned another continent.’

‘What the hell are they doing here?’ Gwen asked, wide-eyed.

Jack’s eyes drifted to the newborn boy in his dad’s arms. ‘Rare and special species fetch a lot on the black market.’

‘They want to steal Theo and sell ‘im?’ Jackie realised.

‘Yeah,’ Jack said. ‘You can guess how much the Doctor would be worth on the market, imagine how much a baby would be worth, even a hybrid. Leah and Kiana would fetch a dime, too.’

‘Oh god,’ Martha said, looking at the Doctor.

‘We’ve been expecting this,’ Jack continued. ‘It was only a matter of time till they showed up. They would’ve heard about the Va'A'gnorns and what the Doctor did. They’d have been monitoring the Earth for a while, too. They’ll think the Doctor’s dead, so they’ll think it’ll be easier now to get the baby. To them, it’s now a risk worth taking.’

‘What do we do?’ Ianto asked.

‘Well, we need to go into total lockdown as soon as possible, so no one goes in or out of Torchwood, including the Tardis,’ the Doctor replied. ‘I’ll jig the teleporter to make sure no one unrecognised can get through. Martha, you should lock down Torchwood Tate, too, as soon as you can. They’re probably standing outside it right now, They won’t care about making a show in front of humans or killing a few to get what they want, so we’ve got to be the ones who disappear.’ He paused, and suddenly his eyes darted open. ‘Wait, where are Leah and Kiana!?’

‘Don’t worry, sweetheart, they’re playin’ in the Tardis,’ Jackie said quickly, putting a hand on his. ‘Saw ‘em five minutes ago.’ 

The Doctor let out a breath and looked down at Theo. The little boy was looking around making a few burbling noises, utterly oblivious to events.

‘Okay, we’re sitting ducks right now, we need to move,’ Jack said, standing up. ‘Ianto, start locking down Torchwood. Gwen …’

‘Wait,’ the Doctor said. ‘Once we lockdown they’ll know that we know. First, I need to pick up Rose, then we’ll start locking down, then think again.’

Jack nodded. ‘Got it.’

‘... Can someone take Theo?’ the Doctor asked, hesitating slightly. No one was saying it, but the possibility that Torchwood could be overrun in his absence was potent.

‘I will, sweetheart,’ Jackie said, and took the three-day-old baby. Theo made a few noises, but settled in his grandmother’s arms.

Jack pulled out his gun, checking it was loaded. He looked at Gwen and Ianto. ‘Get a weapon.’ They nodded and ran off. ‘Jackie, get into my office, it’s the safest place. Lock the door.’

She left. There was a slight pause. The Doctor just watched Jackie disappear into the office with his baby boy.

Jack knew him well enough now. He rested his hands on the Doctor’s shoulders, gazing into his eyes. ‘He’ll be safe here until you get back.’

The Doctor nodded. ‘Thank you.’

‘Now get going,’ Jack said. ‘Once you’re back, we can lock down.’

* * *

An attendant at the spa interrupted Rose's massage to tell her that her husband urgently needed to see her. That got her worried, and that worry only increased when she saw him in the reception area of the spa complex, pacing up and down. Immediately she sensed some bad news.

'Doctor?’ she asked as she approached, only in a towel.

He whirled around to meet her, wide-eyed. 'Rose, where are your things? We need to go.’

'What’s happened?’

He seemed to completely ignore the question. 'Where are your things?’ he repeated.

'This way,’ Rose said, leading him down the corridor. He followed, his pace making her speed up a bit. 'What’s happened?’

'In here?’ he asked as she stopped outside a door.

'Yeah, locker forty-six,’ she replied. 'Doctor, what …’

He darted into the room to locker forty-six. She didn't even tell him the combination before he was buzzing it open with the sonic.

'Doctor!’ 

He wrenched open the door and took out her bag. 'Get dressed,’ he ordered. 'No, wait, don't even bother. Get dressed on the journey back.’

'Doctor!?’

‘Tardis, now!’

* * *

As the TARDIS flew and Rose got dressed, the Doctor finally explained what was going on. The note of terror in his voice was frightening her a lot.

‘So they want Theo, Leah, or Kiana?’ Rose asked as she pulled on her shirt.

‘Or even you,’ the Doctor said. ‘You've carried my kids. Fetal-maternal microchimerism. You'll have some gallifreyan DNA in you, leftover from carrying my kids. You’ll be worth something. So we’re locking down and hiding. But Theo will be the Holy Grail, as an untainted, totally new, and pristine condition gallifreyan hybrid. Ready to be raised and turned to someone else's ideas.’

She nodded, looking at him. 'You’re scared,’ she realised. ‘Who exactly are these, err ..’

‘Bar’zellis.’

'Yeah, them,’ Rose said. 

He paused for a moment as the TARDIS landed. ‘You remember how I said that I'd been to Sirrus before we went?’

‘Yeah?’

‘And I said I’d nearly been shot six times in five hours?’

‘Yeah …?’ Rose said, knowing exactly where this was going.

‘Well, they were the ones shooting at me.’

‘But they didn't capture you … right?’

‘No,’ the Doctor said. ‘If they had, we wouldn’t be speaking right now.’

‘God,’ she muttered, throwing on her jacket. 

They landed with the usual ‘thunk!’ just as Rose got her shoes on. He turned to her and pointed to the doors. ‘Tell Jack to lockdown, I'll find Leah and Kiana.’

* * *

_ ‘Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 4:18pm.’  _

‘Who’s Kiana?’ the Doctor asked.

‘A few years back you adopted her, she’s actually the Master’s,’ Jack answered.

‘Wait, no,’ the Doctor said, wide-eyed. ‘The Master … had a kid?’

‘Yeah, a half-human one,’ Jack told him, laughing.

‘Okay, Moirai and me having kids and all that is one thing, but that’s ridiculous. How exactly did he manage that?’

‘In the same way we all do,’ Jack said. ‘He killed whoever the mother was and dropped Kiana on our doorstep. You adopted her. You had to really, else he would’ve let her die. At least he had the decency to let you know she existed. But after a while it got obvious that she didn’t like you very much, so you gave her to me because me and Kiana had a bond. She’s basically become a kid of Torchwood. She calls everyone Mom and Dad. She’s a little younger than Leah, but they’re best friends, they understand each other.’

‘Oh,’ the Doctor said. 

‘You ended up looking for them for twenty minutes …’

* * *

_ ‘... Eventually, you found them in the wardrobe.’ _

The Doctor’s long search for the girls ended when he finally came across them in the TARDIS wardrobe, trying on an array of hats together. He called Leah down from the top platform, and she immediately sprinted down the spiral steps in a boater hat, nearly falling over in the process. 

‘Watch it,’ the Doctor said, diving to catch her. ‘What do I keep telling you?’

‘That I can go where I like except the attic, but no running,’ Leah replied in a mantra, beaming up at him with her adorable eyes, her hands entangled in the bottom of her shirt, looking adorable.

He rolled his eyes. ‘Kiana, can you come down!?’ he yelled up.

‘Why?’ the little girl wondered from somewhere up high.

‘Because the Tardis wasn’t exactly designed with child safety in mind, and I don’t particularly want to face Jack when we’re finding out whether you can regenerate or not!’ the Doctor called.

‘Then you should design it like that,’ Leah pointed out. ‘You’re s’posed to be responsible.’

‘Yeah!’ Kiana agreed.

‘You’re like a thousand years old so you should know better,’ Leah said and dashed off to the steps again.

‘Hey!’ the Doctor protested, throwing out his hand and grabbing her arm before she could leave. ‘God, it’s like herding kittens,’ he muttered. ‘Leah, Kiana, I want to talk to you both.’

‘What?’

'Kiana, get down from there!’ he called up.

'Okay, okay,’ Kiana complained and joined them.

He knelt down to their heights, adjusting Leah's boater hat and he did so. 

‘It’s bad,’ Leah informed Kiana. ‘He's got his serious face on.’

The Doctor half smiled. ‘Yeah, it is a bit. Listen, we've got some bad people coming after us. Some people who are hunting gallifreyans. They're standing outside the Hub right now. But don't worry, I won't let them touch either of you.’

‘Who are the bad people?’ Leah asked, wide-eyed.

‘You remember when me and Uncle Jack had to go to Sirrus?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Well, they're from there. We're assuming they've heard I'm dead and think they can take advantage. But like I said, nothing is going to happen, okay? We're locking down.’

‘Okay,’ Leah said, looking a little worried.

‘Both of you come out into Torchwood,’ the Doctor said.

‘Can I keep the hat please?’ Kiana asked hopefully.

The Doctor considered her, standing there in the purple cloche hat. He wondered briefly where he’d got that. Ah, he recalled. Joan Crawford. New York. 1927. Just before all that nasty business with the alien disease and the entire film industry. Bad memories. ‘Oh, please do.’


	7. Lockdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Torchwood locks down, desperately trying to come up with a plan.

_ ‘Temperature 15 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 4:21pm.’  _

‘The Bar’zellis are dangerous, but they’re not that patient,’ the Doctor said. 

‘Yeah, that’s what we thought,’ Jack replied. ‘As soon as we went into lockdown, the Bar’zellis started trying to get through the entrance. We thought after a bit they’d give up, but we underestimated them. They clearly wanted Theo and were prepared to wait for him. We got stuck in there. We weren’t stocked for it. We had eleven people to feed, plus two infants to look after, and your food stocks were already low. You couldn’t get the Tardis out because of the lockdown, and of course, we couldn’t lift it. You and me stopped eating to conserve, but after two weeks everything was gone. We completely ran out of food.’

‘What about the replicator in the Tardis?’ the Doctor asked.

‘Not enough power. You’d connected the Tardis to Torchwood’s exterior for extra protection so basically the only things working in the Tardis were the lights, Oxygen recyc, and the kettle. We couldn’t link her up to the rift energy because it would have opened us right up. To top it all off …’

* * *

_ ‘... Rose was getting worse.’ _

After two weeks of being stuck inside Torchwood, it was becoming increasingly apparent that everyone within was starting to get a bit of cabin fever. The mood was low, and keeping people motivated was becoming the Doctor and Jack’s new full-time occupations. The Bar’zellis weren’t moving, and as the Doctor woke up on day fifteen of the lockdown, he could hear the sound of quiet sobbing. Rose was crying again.

He got up and moved to the adjoining nursery. ‘Rose,’ he announced so as not to alarm her, and walked into the room. She was sitting in the nursing chair holding Theo, hurriedly wiping at her face with her sleeve.

‘Hey,’ she said, forcing a smile. She wasn’t making eye contact with him.

He walked forward, dropping to his haunches in front of the chair and looking up at her.

‘Rose,’ he said again, reaching forward to put a hand on her knee. ‘Look at me.’

‘No,’ she choked out, her eyes fixed resolutely on Theo.

‘I thought we were clear on this. You can cry in front of me. It’s okay. I’m not here to be judgemental or anything. Just let it go.’

She sniffed. ‘I’m fed up of cryin’, and you’re fed up of me cryin’,’ she muttered.

‘No, I’m not,’ the Doctor insisted. ‘Please, look at me.’

Reluctantly, she did. Her eyes were red and puffy. He didn’t say anything, just offered her a smile. She looked back down at the newborn.

‘Why do I keep doin’ this?’ she asked weakly, running her thumb down Theo’s cheek.

‘Because it’s really, really difficult,’ the Doctor replied.

‘We just had a beautiful baby boy. I should be happy. But I keep cryin’. I’m sick to death of it. I’m holdin’ a beautiful baby we made together, who’s totally perfect in every way, but I’m cryin’.’

‘I know,’ he said gently. ‘But you’re doing really well. You’ve come a really long way in just a few weeks. I told you there’d be good days and bad days. This is a bad one. It’s part of the process of healing.’

‘I don’t want to feel like this anymore,’ she said, her voice trembling. ‘I’ve tried but … but it just won’t stop.’

‘Lesser people would have fallen by now,’ he told her. ‘You’re stronger than you know. You can’t see it, but I can.’

She didn't reply as Theo gargled a little. 

‘I know this feels like the end of the world, but it isn't,’ the Doctor said.

‘What do you do when you have bad days?’ she asked suddenly, looking up at him.

He thought about that, back to just after the Time War. ‘I used to go and sit under the Tardis console,’ he said, laughing a bit. ‘Safe place. I haven’t done that for a while, though.’

‘Safe place. I need one of those,’ she muttered.

He stood up and hugged her. ‘I can be that.’

They sank into silence as he held her for a very long time. 

He was going to have to do something. He decided to call a meeting.

* * *

Eleven hungry people and two babies gathered in Torchwood Three’s meeting room. The thin veil of misery and irritation that everyone was trying to hide was palpable. 

‘They’re still out there?’ the Doctor assumed.

Gwen nodded. ‘They’re not moving. They haven’t hurt anyone, though. Just standing there, watching this place.’

‘We need some suggestions,’ Jack said. ‘Anyone got any bright ideas?’

‘Let’s think sideways, here,’ the Doctor said. ‘They think I’m dead. That’s why they’re making their move. So, why don’t we let them know I’m still here?’

‘How can we do that without putting you in danger?’ Gwen asked.

‘How about a message to them?’ Martha suggested. ‘Something on video.’

‘They’ll assume it's pre-recorded,’ the Doctor said. 'Won’t faze them.’

‘There’s gotta be some way,’ Jack said.

‘We can’t,’ Rose said quietly. ‘You’d have to walk out there.’

‘Hold on,’ Ianto said. ‘We  _ can.  _ But you're not going to like it.’

'Go on,’ the Doctor said, gesturing.

'Well … you said that they were monitoring Earth news, right? Well … what if what put the Doctor  _ on  _ the news? We've still got some of the footage from the high street.’

'But then everyone will know you aren't dead,’ Rose said, looking at the Doctor. 'The whole world.’

'Well, it wasn't going to last, let's be honest,’ the Doctor admitted. 

‘We can’t do that,’ Gwen said. ‘We’ll be exposing this place.’

‘Yeah,’ Jack agreed. ‘Unit would be straight here. We’ll be putting a load of people in the firing line.’

Silence took hold, as everyone thought some more.

‘Then there’s only one option left,’ the Doctor said. Everyone looked at him. He smiled half-heartedly and gestured to the door. ‘I say hello to our new neighbours.’

‘You mean … go out?’ Jackie asked, stunned. ‘You can’t do that.’

‘If they’re looking for profit then they’re not going to try and kill me, at least, not straight away, since selling me will really put them in the black,’ the Doctor said. ‘Maybe I can convince them they’re not going to get anywhere.’

‘This is a huge risk,’ Jack said.

‘Not just to you, but the public, too,’ Martha agreed.

‘Then we play it on our terms,’ the Doctor said. ‘Let them into the Tourist Information Office where no one can get caught in the crossfire. I’ll have a little chat, and hopefully, they’ll realise it’s pointless and leave.’

Jack nodded slowly. ‘We could arm ourselves and go with you …’

‘No,’ the Doctor interrupted swiftly. ‘It has to be me, on my own. They’ll be more suggestable if they outnumber me. Also, no weapons. If you start meeting fire with fire, then there’s going to be an inferno.’

‘You’ll be completely vulnerable,’ Mickey said.

‘Yeah,’ Rose said weakly.

‘Me? Vulnerable? Never. I’m always armed,’ he replied, grinning as he tapped his head.

‘Still, we need to make sure we’ve got something in case they try anything,’ Jack pointed out. ‘Ianto, Gwen, see if there’s anything in the tech storage that can help. I’m thinking something with a forcefield?’’

Ianto nodded and left along with Gwen.

‘Can you hold the fort at Torchwood Tate in case they try to press?’ Jack asked, looking at Mickey, Martha, and Seth.

‘Will do,’ Seth said and looked at the baby gallifreyan briefly before offering Rose a smile. ‘Don't worry, we got this,’ he assured her.

‘Yeah, everything will be fine,’ Martha agreed, before all three exited.

‘God, I hope this works,’ Rose muttered. ‘This is a total nightmare.’

The Doctor wrapped an arm around her. 'It’ll be okay.’

‘Yeah,’ she said, sighing, and looked at Jack, who was holding Theo. 'I’m sorry.’

'Nothing to apologise for,’ Jack replied. ‘I don't take kindly to baby snatchers.’

She sniffed and wiped at her nose. ‘I'll go help the others,’ she said and left quickly.

'I’ll check she's all right,’ Jackie said, and left as well.

‘It  _ is  _ gonna be alright, isn't it?’ Leah wondered.

The Doctor offered her a smile. ‘Yeah. We'll sort it.’

'Can we go help?’ Kiana asked.

'Sure,’ Jack said, nodding, leaving only him, the Doctor and Theo in the room.

The Doctor sighed, looking at Theo again before he suddenly laughed. Jack looked at him oddly. 'You know, there's always been this part of me that vaguely hoped this would get easier,’ the Doctor told him.

‘Unfortunately, you're you,’ Jack replied.

The Doctor gave a half-smile, but it was gone in a flash. 

‘How’s Rose?’ Jack asked.

‘Not good,’ the Doctor confessed. ‘She’s got a lot worse.’

‘Nightmares?’

‘They’ve increased. I’ve had to go in her dreams every night for a week.’

‘Well, the situation isn’t helping,’ Jack said. 

‘No,’ the Doctor muttered, running a hand down his face. ‘What worries me most though, is if this doesn’t work.’

‘It will,’ Jack assured him. ‘Not doubting your ability to sweet talk, are you?’

The Doctor shook his head. ‘It’s more what happens afterwards that terrifies me.’

* * *

At precisely 3am, the Doctor took his position by the Hub’s door with a forcefield box in his pocket. Jack hovered his finger over the button that would bring Torchwood out of lockdown. Everyone else had retreated to the Tardis, with explicit instructions on how to boost the shields when the power was restored, just in case the Bar’zellis managed to get through.

‘Ready?’ Jack asked.

‘Yep,’ the Doctor said.

‘Okay, powering up in three, two, one …’

He hit the switch, and finally, the lights came back on. The Doctor quickly slammed his hand onto the button, and the door rolled back. He moved through, and as per instructed, Jack closed it back up behind him. He walked into the Tourist Information Office, turned on the light, jumped to sit cross-legged on the counter, and waited.

It only took the Bar’zellis two minutes. They slowly entered, looking around cautiously. The moment they saw the Time Lord, they jumped in alarm, and immediately their guns were pointing straight at him.

‘Welcome to Cardiff,’ the Doctor greeted, smiling his most charismatic smile. ‘Or should I say “croeso i Caerdydd”?’

‘You’re the Doctor,’ one realised, astonished.

‘Yes, I am, hello,’ the Doctor said happily.

‘But you’re dead.’

‘Yeah, it’s a common misconception,’ the Doctor said, his eyes lowering to the guns still pointed firmly in his direction. ‘How about you put the guns away so we can have a civilised conversation?’

They didn’t. ‘This isn’t workable,’ the one on the left hissed to the other.

‘We’ll have to tell them he’s here …’

‘We should abort.’

‘They said don’t come back without the infant.’

‘But we can’t, not now, the intel was wrong …’

'Let’s just go.’

'They’ll be angry.’

'They’ll be fine once they know the Doctor's here. They'll know it wasn't possible …’

The Doctor watched them, slightly disappointed that this was turning out to be very easy indeed. They apparently didn't even need convincing. They both realised he was listening, so they leant in close to each other to converse in whispers, turning away. Even the Doctor's keen Time Lord hearing couldn't pick it up.

After a moment, they drew back from each other and looked straight at him. The guns were still pointing at him.

'Prove it,’ the one on the left said. 'Prove you're the Doctor.’

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. 'You want me to prove I'm myself?’

'You could be pretending to be him …’ the one on the right said.

'Say something only the Doctor would say!’ the one on the left demanded.

The Doctor sighed a little. 'Look. You and I both know that you're not going to get the baby. You’ve got people to kill and torment, I’ve got midnight feedings to do, and this is only going to get in the way of our schedules. So you might as well leave now and save us all some time.’

‘He can't prove it!’ the one on the right grated.

'He's pretending,’ his friend agreed.

The Doctor sighed a little. 'Well, how about this for starters …’ He dropped off the counter slowly and deliberately, taking a step forward to them with his entire demeanour suddenly changing completely; his eyes darkening and his jaw tightening. They brandished their guns again, but he completely ignored them. 'Kidnapping and selling infants from rare species is and always has been completely illegal on every civilised planet throughout the universe. It’s wrong on every level, from morals and ethics to basic decency and kindness. But that's not enough to stop disgusting people like you, oh no. You people have to be  _ told.  _ You have to be communicated with in a way you’ll understand - in exactly the same way as you treat other people. And I know exactly how you work. You work in violence and threats. So how's this for a threat? Sure, you can take my son. But I'll warn you. When you head back home, I'll be there. I'll be watching your every single move. I'll be plotting and planning, and when the time is right, I'll start. I'll take down every little tiny facet of the Bar’zellis one after the other in the most humiliating and painful way possible until every last stinking piece of your pathetic so-called business come dictatorship is wiped out of the future and the history of the Universe. Then I’ll simply pluck my son out of your cold dead hands and be on my merry way.’

The Bar’zellis stared at him, slightly apprehensive.

‘So!’ the Doctor said brightly, snapping back to his original demeanour with that charismatic smile, his hands sliding into his pockets. ‘You’ve got two options. What’ll it be, gentlemen?’

There was a slight pause.

‘Or,’ the one on the left began as he braced his finger on the trigger of his gun. ‘We could kill you right now. We didn’t come here for you.’

The Doctor considered him, wondering if he would. Yes, he rapidly decided. He would.

‘If you shoot, you’ll die,’ the Doctor warned him. ‘I’m giving you the chance to walk away right now. Walk away, and live. Please.’

The Bar’zelli just laughed. His finger tightened on the trigger.

As quick as lighting the Doctor pulled the forcefield generator out of his pocket and activated it, just before the Bar’zelli fired the gun. The shot rebounded off of the forcefield and straight back into the Bar’zelli, who shrieked and hit the floor, immediately dead. In the ensuing surprise, the Doctor deactivated the forcefield again and jumped forward, grabbing the gun out of the other one’s hand. He pointed it straight at the Bar’zelli’s head.

‘Tell your organisation that the Doctor is very much alive, and now he’s seriously annoyed with you,’ the Doctor said, cooly and calmly. ‘And if your organisation tries anything, then it’ll go the same way as the Va'A'gnorns. And, by the way, also tell them …’ He paused, and then spun the gun in his hand and held it back out to the Bar’zelli, who took it, bewildered. ‘... He doesn’t even need a weapon to do it.’

The Doctor then turned and walked back into Torchwood. Jack obligingly opened the door and put it back as soon as the Doctor was through. 

Jack was grinning. ‘That was great,’ he said.

‘No, it wasn’t,’ the Doctor muttered.

Jack frowned, confused. ‘What?’ he asked, but the others were already out of the Tardis and running to him to congratulate him, having all watched him on the monitor.

‘They ain’t coming back!’ Jackie praised.

‘He’s leaving with the body,’ Ianto said, looking at the monitor. 

‘Is it over?’ Leah asked, holding onto her dad’s coat.

‘Yeah!’ Jackie said happily.

‘Everyone, be quiet,’ the Doctor ordered with his hand in the air. 

‘What is it?’ Rose asked.

‘This isn’t good,’ the Doctor said, dropping into a nearby chair.

‘But they’re gone!’ Jackie insisted. ‘How’s that not good?’

‘Because one of them is dead.’

‘So?’ Jackie asked. ‘He shot himself. You warned him.’

‘That’s not the story the other one will tell,’ the Doctor replied. ‘The Bar’zellis now think I killed one of them.’

‘Oh,’ Jack realised.

‘What?’ Rose asked.

‘They’ll come back, stronger than before,’ Jack said quietly.

‘And now I know they’ll happily kill me,’ the Doctor added. ‘They’re not interested in anyone but Theo. They’re not looking to try and get all of us. Theo is in serious danger …’ 

The previously joyful mood was now well and truly quelled.

‘What do we do?’ Rose asked.

He looked up at the group, and then at Rose. ‘I think we need to take a nice, long holiday.’


	8. The Holiday: Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family go travelling, trying to avoid the Bar’zellis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to oldskool Tardis travelling fun for a little bit as I desperately try and grow a baby into a talkative toddler before, as per usual, everything turns to mulch.

_ ‘Temperature 15 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 4:34pm.’  _

‘So, you realised that Theo was the prime target, and you’d have to disappear for a while,’ Jack said. ‘You left Kiana with me to keep her out of the line of fire, but you, Rose, Leah and Theo all went.’

‘Where to?’

‘You travelled around for a while, planet to planet. Rose used to send a picture every now and then, and Jackie got the odd phone call. The first photo was you holding Theo standing next to Leah on a promenade, against this purple sky. Do you remember what you did?’

‘Kind of,’ the Doctor recalled as the memory came eeking back, bit by bit. ‘Theo was six weeks old. We landed on this planet that was supposed to have a legendary sea beast. Leah wanted to see this beast …’

* * *

_ ‘... But I was pretty sure it didn't exist.’ _

'Can we, please?’ Leah begged. 'Please, Daddy? Mummy? Please?’

'It doesn't exist,’ the Doctor insisted. 'The legendary Krum’ta beast is completely made up for tourism purposes. It's a waste of time.’

'But I wanna,’ the five-year-old complained.

'I’m telling you, Leah, going on a tourist boat to see a thing that's not even there is going to be very,  _ very  _ dull. Besides, the weather’s turning. You won’t just be bored, you’ll be soaked.’

'Badabooboo,’ Theo contributed to the conversation, clapping his hands together and giggling from the child carrier on Rose’s chest.

'Have you ever looked for it?’ Leah demanded to know, her hands on her hips.

'Well, no, but come on, it's …’

'Then how d'you know it doesn't exist?’

'She has a point,’ Rose told him, grinning.

The Doctor looked between the girls and realised abruptly that this wasn't going to go his way. 'Okay, okay, I give in. But don't complain to me when the legendary Krum’ta sea beast with its fiery red eyes, hypnotic powers, and a coat made of glass fails to make an appearance.’

Leah burst into smiles. 'Okay!’ she said gleefully, grabbing his hand and yanking him in the direction of the tourist boat.

'Dohbaboo,’ Theo said, looking confused.

‘You'll get used to 'em,’ Rose assured him, and followed.

They boarded the boat courtesy of the psychic paper, and ten minutes later they were off, surrounded by other tourist groups, all happy, chatty, and pointing out across the sea at the fantastic scenery. For a while, it was quite a lovely trip despite the lack of the Krum’ta sea beast.

The Doctor had been right, though. Twenty minutes later black clouds began to roll over the horizon, and then the sea started to become choppy, making the boat sway dangerously. As the Doctor took Theo and went to fetch some food, Rose started to feel very nauseous, and then began to throw up over the side of the boat. Meanwhile, Leah didn’t seem to care. She was standing precariously on the edge, hanging over the side to look in the depths of the sea.

'Leah, get away from the edge!’ Rose ordered and threw up for the fifth time.

‘But …’

‘I said get away!’ Rose moaned after she’d got out the next load of vomit.

‘Awww,’ Leah complained and jumped off back onto the deck without so much as a stumble.

‘Chips! Well, as close as,’ the Doctor suddenly said happily from behind them. Rose turned, red in the face with watery eyes, seeing him standing there with Theo in the chest carrier. The Time Lord was holding a big tray of weird-looking alien food and was apparently completely unaffected by the ship’s wild rocking. He shoved three chips into his mouth and chewed happily as Leah bounded over to grab some.

‘Oh god, don’t eat, please, that makes me feel even more si … ugh!’ Rose moaned and threw up a little more.

‘You all right?’ the Doctor asked, frowning a little.

‘Do I look like I’m all right?’ she gasped, retching.

‘I had no idea you got seasick,’ he confessed, and crammed five chips into his gob, chewing thoughtfully. ‘Wait …  _ surely  _ we’ve been on a boat before?’

‘Oh, shut up.’

‘Grrrapah,’ Theo said from the carrier, waving his arms.

‘Oh, sorry, Theo. You want some food?’ the Doctor asked as Theo’s little hands stuck out keenly in the vague direction of the tray of chips. ‘Wait. Rose. Are six-week-old babies allowed to have chips?’

Rose ignored him, throwing up again just as the boat lurched wildly to one side, nearly making Rose fall over. Neither of the upright gallifreyans seemed to even notice it. 

‘How are you not fallin’ over?’ Rose complained, clinging onto the side.

‘Superior sensory systems,’ the Doctor replied. 'Your eyes aren't telling you the same thing as your inner ear, which is why humans get motion sickness, but gallifreyans have got bypasses for that.’

‘Good for you,’ Rose gasped, retching once more.

The Doctor handed the chips to Leah and walked to her, pulling out the sonic and adjusting the settings as he moved. He then sat on the edge of the boat next to her.

Rose's eyes darted open as she grabbed him, pulling him back onto the deck. 'Don’t do that with Theo on you!’ she cried.

'Rose, it's fine, I won't fall off,’ the Doctor assured her. 'I told you, sensory systems and …’

'I don't care!’

'Okay, sorry,’ the Doctor said quickly. He took her cheek in one hand and raised his sonic to the back of her ear with the other. 'This will sort it out, temporarily anyway.’ He buzzed, and suddenly Rose's nausea and dizziness completely disappeared, leaving only the bitter taste of vomit in her mouth.

She looked up at him, startled. 'It's gone,’ she said.

He nodded, grinning. 'It’ll last a couple of hours.’

'Thanks.’

'You’re welcome,’ he said with a mock salute and slipped his sonic back into his pocket as the boat rocked again. Rose shrieked and grabbed him as the first droplets of rain began to fall.

‘This storm’s gettin’ worse, we’ve gotta go inside,’ she said, looking around for Leah. She found her, once again, hanging over the side of the ship.

‘Look!’ the little girl said, pointing down with one hand and the box of food in the other.

‘Leah, I said don’t do that!’ Rose ordered, still holding onto the Doctor.

‘But look!’ Leah insisted, still pointing.

‘Leah, get back,’ the Doctor said. 

‘But Daddy, look, it’s the –’

There was suddenly a ferocious, toe-curling animal-like screech from right next to them as something absolutely massive burst out of the sea where Leah had been looking and jumped right over the ship. The family cried out and dived to the ground as the ship very nearly capsized.

‘Oh my god,’ Rose realised as the creature plunged back into the sea on the other side. ‘That was it! The sea beast!’

‘Don’t be daft, it’s just a big whale,’ the Doctor insisted, righting himself. ‘Theo, you okay?’

‘Baabaaboo,’ Theo replied happily.

‘Big whale!?’ Rose repeated in a squeak. ‘Did you see it? It had these big red eyes and a glass coat!’

‘No, it didn’t, it …’ the Doctor started again, but was interrupted by another screech as a giant head popped out of the sea. Its fiery red eyes were staring straight in their direction, with its glass coat shimmering in the daylight. 

‘Oh,’ the Doctor muttered as the Krum’ta sea beast surged forward. The family shrieked and dived again as some tourists appeared at the windows of the cabin, wide-eyed and terrified.

‘Get inside!’ the Doctor yelled to his family, diving to grab Leah’s hand and pulling her up, all the while Theo giggling in his carrier. The Doctor all but threw her to the door as Rose staggered past him and yanked it open, bundling the girl inside. 

The Krum’ta sea beast slammed into the side of the ship, and the Doctor was sent careering away from the door, sliding across the deck to the other side with Theo yelling happily in his ears, like it was all some rollercoaster ride. Ignoring the pain shooting through his healing shoulder, the Doctor got up again with his arms around the carrier. He was intending to head for the door where Rose was screaming for him, but a giant tentacle the size of a Volkswagen Beetle was now squirming in the middle of the deck, separating him and Theo, and safety.

There were a bunch of tied up barrels next to the mast, so the Doctor dived in for cover. He only realised that had been a bad idea when the tentacle rose up and moved to hover over exactly where he was hiding. He just about managed to scamper out in time before the tentacle slammed down straight onto the barrels. 

Something acutely acidic suddenly seeped out from the broken barrels, hissing loudly, and the Krum’ta sea beast screeched again, this time in pain. As the deck began to melt away with the strong acid, the Krum’ta sea beast seemed to decide this wasn’t worth it and started bouncing away across the sea, disappearing into the fog.

For a moment the Doctor just stood there, utterly soaked, with Theo laughing happily from the chest carrier as the deck began to collapse beneath the grown-up Time Lord’s feet. He had to do one final hop as the floor finally broke away and the mast groaned loudly, before collapsing into the sea.

* * *

The entire complement of the ship’s crew and passengers finally reached the nearest island on the lifeboats and were awaiting rescue. Everyone was terrified, shocked, and worried, conversing in frantic tones about the deadly Krum’ta sea beast. The only person laughing was Theo, who was now out of his carrier and in his mum’s arms as she tried to dry him off.

‘The legendary Krum’ta sea beast, not real, eh?’ Rose wondered, gazing at the Doctor.

‘I was kind of right. It didn’t have hypnotic powers,’ the Doctor insisted.

‘Yeah, cos that would’ve been  _ crazy,’  _ Rose said facetiously.

‘Can we go again?’ Leah asked eagerly.

‘No,’ Rose replied simply.

Leah harrumphed and folded her arms.

‘There you go,’ Rose told Theo, having dried him off with the Doctor’s jacket and placing him to lie on her legs, supporting his head. ‘Happy?’

Theo giggled again and held out his arms. ‘Food,’ he said.

Rose blinked, startled. ‘Um, what did you just say?’

‘Food,’ Theo repeated. 

‘Doctor!’ Rose gasped. ‘He said food! He said the word food!’

‘He did?’ the Doctor said, shocked.

‘Food,’ Theo repeated, still reaching up.

‘Oh my god!’ Rose shrieked, delighted as she wrapped her arms around the boy, hugging him and kissing him. 

‘Food,’ Theo said for the fourth time.

‘Food!’ Rose echoed, nodding. ‘Yeah, food!’

‘Food,’ Theo said once more.

‘Food!’ the Doctor repeated, delighted.

‘Food.’

‘Food!’

‘Food.’

Leah sighed loudly. ‘Will you give him food already!?’ 

* * *

The planet’s local press tried desperately to get an interview, but the Doctor quickly headed them off and got the family back to the TARDIS, which was parked on a promenade that was closed for the night. Before they left, they all went to the end of the pier to take in the fantastic view of the Red Ocean underneath the purple sky, chatting for a while.

‘We should get going,’ the Doctor announced after a while, getting up with Theo in his arms. ‘Can’t be in one place for too long.’

‘Hold on, we need a picture before we go,’ Rose said, pulling out her phone.

‘Why?’ the Doctor asked.

‘We gotta let the others know we’re okay. We can't tell them where we are, but we can show them where we've been,’ she pointed out.

The Doctor sighed. ‘Okay. Where do you want us?’

Rose regarded the view, moving her camera around and peering at the screen to find the best shot. ‘Oh! Over there,’ she said, pointing towards the end of the promenade next to the sea.

They obligingly moved into position, standing by the railings, lit up by the purple tones of the sunset.

‘Say cheese!’ Rose encouraged, and took the picture. 

* * *

_ ‘Temperature 15 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 4:45pm.’  _

‘Why did you go there in the first place?’ Jack wondered.

‘I think I was just trying to keep it random,’ the Doctor said. ‘I mean, if we didn’t know where we were going, then the Bar’zellis couldn’t possibly know. And it wasn’t like we could sit in the vortex for a year until they gave up.’

‘Yeah. I’m glad Rose decided to do that photo, though. We were getting worried about you guys. We hadn’t heard anything from you for a month before that. With the Bar’zellis on your tail I kept thinking the worst. But then I got that cute photo.’

‘Cute?’ the Doctor echoed.

‘You all looked adorable,’ Jack assured him, and laughed. ‘But it wasn’t as cute as the next photo Rose sent, though. That was of Leah sitting on a gold throne. What happened?’

The Doctor thought about that. ‘I think … I think Theo was twelve weeks. He’d started talking quite a lot, mainly repeating the same words over. Rose hadn’t had any nightmares for a few weeks, but she was missing her mum …’ 

* * *

_ ‘... So I relaxed the rules on hiding our location a bit so Rose could call her for ten minutes.’ _

‘How are we nearly out of nappies again?’ the Doctor complained as he emerged from the depths of the TARDIS into the console room, holding Theo. 

‘I told you a week ago we were gonna run out, but you didn’t listen,’ Rose replied, holding her phone to her ear. ‘We haven’t been anywhere we can stock up. Right, Theo?’

‘Yeh!’ Theo shouted happily, his new favourite word.

The Doctor sighed and moved to the console, flicking some switches. ‘Okay, intergalactic Sainsbury’s coming up.’

Rose giggled. ‘I’m gonna put you on speakerphone, hold on,’ Rose told Jackie, despite the Doctor’s hurried protests.

_ ‘How the bloody ‘ell do you keep runnin’ out of the most basic baby things?’  _ she asked seriously.  _ ‘You’ve done this twice before!’ _

The Doctor gave a silent groan of agony. Rose snorted with laughter. ‘We've been busy,’ he protested.

_ ‘Busy doin’ nothin’ from what I’ve ‘eard!’  _

The Doctor sighed and looked at Theo, trying to get some moral support.

‘Yeh!’ Theo chimed in.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and continued programming. The TARDIS began to churn, but seconds later the monitor suddenly started to beep and flash a frenzy of alerts.

'What’s that?’ Rose asked.

'Someone’s trying to communicate,’ he said, tapping a few buttons. Seconds later, there appeared an alien face on-screen with little pincers by his mouth and wrinkled, green skin.

_ ‘Ambassador,’  _ the alien said, smiling.  _ ‘We are so pleased to see you.’ _

The Doctor blinked. ‘Err ... pardon?’

The alien suddenly looked more confused than he did.  _ ‘Ambassador? It is you, isn’t it?’  _ he asked. It was only then they realised that the alien wasn’t looking at the Doctor, he was looking at Theo, still in the Doctor’s arms. There was a brief silence filled with slight bafflement from both parties.

‘Yeh,’ Theo said again.

‘Err, hold on …’ the Doctor tried. 

_ ‘We have given your ship landing permissions to the Janq Palace port. My team and I will meet you there if it so pleases you.’ _

‘Yeh!’ Theo replied happily, with absolutely no idea what he had agreed to.

‘Hey, wait …’ the Doctor tried to interject again.

_ ‘There we can begin the negotiations between the factions with your mediation,’  _ the alien said.  _ ‘We look forward to welcoming you.’ _

‘He’s not –’ the Doctor tried for the third time, but the alien was already gone.

Rose stared, frowning. ‘Um, what just happened?’ she asked the Doctor.

_ ‘What’s goin’ on?’  _ Jackie queried from the phone.

‘Why?’ Theo said.

The Doctor looked at Rose, then at Theo. ‘I think our twelve-week-old baby has just been mistaken for a mediator of peace discussions in an ongoing war.’

There was a slight pause.

‘Mum, I’m gonna have to call you back,’ Rose said, and hung up the phone.


	9. The Holiday: Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twelve-week-old Theo inadvertently becomes the peace negotiator in a planetary civil war.

Without much choice, the Doctor landed the TARDIS in the Janq Palace port as promised, and Leah joined them. The welcoming party hadn’t arrived yet.

‘Where are we?’ Leah asked.

‘Peroxnia,’ the Doctor said, boosting Theo in his grip. ‘They’ve been a bit cut off – the rest of the Universe have been avoiding them because there's a big civil war going on. Two factions, the Jurrs and the Raas, have constantly been at war for thousands of years. Looks like they're finally trying to resolve it. They’ve obviously hired a professional mediator and Ambassador from the Peace Council to help them sort out their problems.'

'The Peace Council?’ Rose asked.

‘The Peace Council is a group of, er, kind of ... universal mail order peacemakers.’

‘So what, these people think a twelve-week-old is gonna do that?’ Rose asked, laughing.

The Doctor shrugged. 'They’ve probably got a vague description that Theo fits.’

'Yeh!’ Theo chimed.

'You've  _ really  _ got to stop saying that all the time,’ the Doctor moaned. 

Suddenly the port door opened, and in stepped three people, two men and a woman, all dressed in long robes.

'Ambassador, we welcome you to our planet,’ the one who had been on the TARDIS monitor said, bowing courteously. 'How was your journey from Kraxos? I have to admit, we were worried the ice clouds in Meta Six might prevent you from getting here. Did you have much trouble?’

'Yeh!’ Theo said.

'I’m very sorry to hear that,’ the alien said, bowing slightly. 'Did your ship sustain much damage?’

'Yeh!’

'Perhaps our mechanics could take a look at …’

'Oh, that won't be necessary,’ the Doctor said quickly before anyone could lay a finger on his precious time machine. 'What's your name?’

'Fara,’ the alien replied. 'I am afraid the Peace Council didn't tell us your name, Ambassador.’

The Doctor beamed. 'This is Ambassador Theo of Tardis. I am his public liaison, known as the Doctor, this is his Personal Assistant, Dame Rose of the Powell Estate, and his confidante, Princess Leah of Tardis,’ he said, pointing to them in turn. 

‘Nice to meet you,’ Leah said politely.

'It is an honour to be in such esteemed company,’ Fara said, smiling. 'This is my security chief, Hullot, who will be overseeing security arrangements for your visit.’

‘Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any concerns,’ Hullot said in a gruff voice.

‘And this is Officer Mila, who will be your liaison,’ Fara said, gesturing to the woman.

Mila bowed courteously. ‘Perhaps you'd like to see your living quarters before dining with the king?’ she asked.

‘Yeh!’ Theo said again.

‘Very well, please, follow me,’ Mila said.

* * *

‘Well, this is posh,’ Rose stated as she, Leah, the Doctor, and Theo stood in the entrance hall to their living quarters after Mila had left. They were surrounded by ceramics and expensive-looking paintings, and in the centre of the room was a hand-carved indoor fountain in the shape of some alien creature, gently trickling orange water. There were at least five rooms of the same gigantic size attached.

‘This place is huge!’ Leah enthused. ‘Can I look around?’

‘Yeah. Just don’t break anythin’,’ Rose said, and Leah rushed off. Rose looked at the Doctor. ‘So err, what happens when the  _ real  _ ambassador turns up?’

‘Oh, he won’t,’ the Doctor replied. ‘Those ice clouds Fara mentioned pretty much render that entire star system impassable for the next two years. If that’s where the Ambassador’s coming from, like they said, then he’s not turning up.’

‘So, basically, it’s a twelve-week-old or nothin’,’ Rose surmised.

‘Yeah,’ the Doctor said, looking at the boy in his arms.

‘Yeh!’ Theo said again.

‘Okay. You need to stop saying yes. It’s got us in a big mess.’

‘Why?’

‘Try “no”. Repeat after me. No. No. No. No.’

‘Yeh, yeh, yeh, yeh!’

The Doctor sighed, sat him down on a nearby chair and knelt down, looking at the boy seriously. ‘Theo, you’re an incredibly smart gallifreyan with prydonian chapter blood, and you have a huge capacity for language learning. English is just one of billions of languages you’ll end up fluent in, and it’s probably also the most important one you’ll ever learn, so you can communicate with your mum, your grandmother, and your many honorary aunts and uncles.’

Theo stared at him, looking a bit confused. Rose giggled.

‘You’re now twelve-weeks-old. You’ve really impressed me so far. In fact, you’re better than Leah was at your age, so that tells me that you’ve got the full whack of the language talents passed down to me by my ancient gallifreyan ancestors. My constant monitoring of your cognitive development has led me to conclusively predict that by the time you’re seven-months-old, you’ll probably be making some fairly complex sentences. So therefore, saying the word “no” is something that you should have grasped about two weeks ago, even if you don’t comprehend its definition. Frankly, Theo, you’re off-schedule. So, let’s try again. No.’

‘.... Yeh!’

‘No!’

‘Why?’

‘No!’

‘Food!’

The Doctor groaned.

‘Why do I get the feelin’ this meal with royalty isn’t gonna go well?’ Rose wondered.

* * *

Two hours later and the family were all sitting at a long, grand table, with the King of Peroxnia at the head. Servants were milling around and filling up drinks for the first course.

‘Once again I thank you for coming, Ambassador,’ Fara said. ‘This war has been raging across our world for far too long, only now have the factions agreed to meet for peace talks. We may never have this opportunity again. We hope, with your help, we can finally resolve this conflict.’

‘Yeh!’ Theo said.

‘Excellent,’ the King said. ‘I like your positivity.’

‘I’m sure Ambassador Theo will be a great asset in these talks,’ Mila said, smiling.

‘Oh, I know Ambassador Theo won’t leave this planet without knowing you’re living in peace,’ the Doctor said.

‘Food!’ Theo demanded suddenly, and quite rudely. Thankfully, the King took this with good spirit.

‘Quite right, that’s enough chatter, you have had a long journey,’ the King said, laughing as he clapped his hands. ‘The first course, please!’

The servants immediately entered, carrying plates.

‘I hope you enjoy this,’ the King was saying. ‘They’re boka beans, a local delicacy.’

‘Oh, I’m sure they’ll be …’ the Doctor began, but his eyes widened when one of the servants gave him a plate, filled with very large black beans covered in juice. He and Rose exchanged a subtle look as they both clocked the same problem. He wasn’t ready for solids. Theo looked at his dad, wildly confused about what he was supposed to do with this meal that wasn’t coming from his mother.

The King noted that. ‘Is something wrong, Ambassador?’

‘Yeh!’ Theo yelled, suddenly scooping up a hand of beans and throwing it with quite some vigour before the Doctor or Rose could do anything to stop it. It splattered directly in the middle of the King’s face. Everyone stared, horrified, as the King wiped the mushed boka beans from his nose. His right eye was twitching. ‘What in the name of …!?’

‘I’m sorry, I should have mentioned, in our culture, yelling “yeah” and throwing food is considered extremely honorific for the hosts and an expression of how much you’re enjoying the meal,’ the Doctor said quickly, then scooped up a bit of food and threw it at the King. It landed square in his forehead. ‘Come on Princess Leah and Dame Rose, we’ve got to show our appreciation for the meal,’ the Doctor encouraged.

Obligingly, Leah did it as well, looking as though this was the best day of her life. Rose followed, managing to catch the king’s lower jaw.

‘Oh,’ the King said, now absolutely plastered in boka beans. He smiled. ‘Then I thank you, Ambassador. Our custom is simply to praise the God Pohpi for our meal.’

Theo giggled. ‘Yeh!’ he said.

‘What the Ambassador means is yes, you’re welcome, and what a fascinating glimpse into your culture,’ the Doctor clarified, maintaining his charismatic smile.

‘Ah,’ the King said. He then scooped up a handful of food and threw it at Theo. It missed and hit Rose instead. The King laughed, delighted, and encouraged Fara, Mila, and Hullot to do the same, who obligingly began to throw food missiles down the table.

* * *

‘That went better than expected,’ the Doctor said as the family got back to their living quarters, all four of them covered in food from head to toe after quite a long food fight.

‘Really?’ Rose wondered, trying to get some beans out of her hair.

‘I mean, we haven’t been asked to leave yet,’ the Doctor pointed out. ‘That’s rare.’

‘Yeah, usually we’d be kicked out by now,’ Rose agreed, giggling. ‘God, tomorrow’s gonna be painful.’

‘We can do it,’ Leah said happily. 

‘Yeh!’ Theo chimed.

‘That was fun,’ Leah enthused, beaming at her dad. ‘Can we do that more?’

_ ‘Definitely  _ not in the Tardis, but maybe in Torchwood because that's not my problem,’ the Doctor replied, and sat Theo down on the nearby chair, kneeling in front of him. ‘Okay, Theo. This is stupid. You need to stop saying yes so much.’

‘Yeh!’ Theo replied.

‘No,’ the Doctor said. ‘Say no. No. No.’

‘Why?’ Theo said.

‘No. Nooooo. Say it with me. It’s in the throat. Nooooo.’

‘Whyyyy.’

‘Theo, if you can say yes, then you can say no. No. No.’

‘No!’ Leah said. ‘No, no, no.’

‘Yeh.’

‘No,’ the Doctor and Leah said in unison.

‘... Nah?’ Theo repeated, looking at his sister.

The Doctor beamed. ‘There we go! No!’

‘Nah,’ Theo echoed.

‘No, no, no.’

‘Nah, nah, nah.’

‘No.’

‘Poopy!’ Theo demanded, his face screwing up.

The Doctor sighed, and looked at his five-year-old daughter and wife. ‘Are you also getting the feeling that we’ll be in prison by the end of tomorrow?’

‘Aww, not  _ again _ ,’ Leah moaned.

* * *

Eight hours later, the King, Fara, Mila, Hullot, the Doctor, Rose, Leah, Theo, and the leaders of the Raas and the Jurrs were sitting around a conference table. The tension between the two rival leaders was creating quite a hostile atmosphere, putting everyone on edge.

‘As we all know, we are here to resolve this dispute,’ the King began. ‘As previously agreed by both sides, we have an impartial mediator present.’ He gestured to Theo, who was on his dad’s lap. ‘We are truly honoured to have Ambassador Theo from the planet Tardis with us.’ 

There was some polite clapping as the two leaders exchanged daggered looks to one another. Theo giggled, and tried to join in the clapping, though his dexterity left a lot to be desired. He then shoved his finger up his nose. He seemed to have all the dexterity he needed for that.

‘Ambassador Theo is happy to be here and hopes both sides can come to an agreement,’ Rose assured them as the Doctor quickly pulled Theo's finger out of his nostril.

‘Ambassador Theo, would you like to begin the talks?’

Theo stared at the King. ‘Yeh,’ he said, and giggled again as he looked up at his father. The Doctor internally winced. 

‘Very well. Begin, Ambassador Theo,’ the King said.

Everyone looked at the twelve-week-old boy expectantly.

‘Nah!’ Theo yelled.

The leaders of the two factions looked confused. ‘No … what?’

‘Nah!’

‘No fighting,’ the King assumed. ‘Ambassador Theo is correct. There should be no more fighting between you.’

‘Why?’ Theo said.

'Indeed, that's the question we all have. Why are we even fighting?’ the King wondered, looking at the two leaders. There was a long pause. 'Anyone?’

No one replied. The King looked at Theo.

'Yeh!’ Theo said immediately. The King looked confused.

'Ambassador Theo agrees,’ the Doctor said. 'He thinks it's been so long that neither side remembers why it began in the first place.’

'Why?’ Theo said.

'Exactly!’ the Doctor said, nodding. 'No one knows why!’

The two leaders looked at each other, a little unsure of what to say for a moment.

'The Jurrs have killed so many of our people!’ the Raa leader finally burst out.

'You've killed more of us!!!’ the Jurr leader snapped back.

‘Nahnahnah!’ Theo said happily. Everyone stopped and looked at him.

'Err …’ the Doctor hesitated, very unsure about how to translate that one. He glanced at his family to ask for some help.

'Nahnahnah!’ Leah repeated. ‘On our planet that’s a phrase you say.’

‘Yes,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘It means, um …’

‘Hakuna matata,’ Rose inputted.

'Yes,’ the Doctor agreed. 

'I … see,’ the King said, obviously still very confused.

‘It means no worries for the rest of your days,’ Leah said helpfully.

‘It's a problem-free philosophy,’ Rose said.

‘Hakuna matata,’ the Doctor finished.

'Nahnahnah!’ Theo said.

Everyone was looking at them strangely.

‘Ambassador Theo means to say that okay, each side has done bad things to each other, and yes, that's a very bad thing, but is that really an excuse not to stop the war?’ the Doctor said. 

'I think Ambassador Theo has a point,’ the King said. 'What is stopping us resolving this conflict?’

The two leaders looked a little bashful.

'Well, I'm not sure,’ the leader of the Jurrs admitted, looking at the leader of the Raas.

‘Poopy,’ Theo said, looking uncomfortable.

‘He needs the toilet,’ Rose muttered to the Doctor.

‘I know …’

‘Poopy,’ Theo moaned again.

Both leaders looked at the boy, confused.

‘Oh, of course!’ the leader of the Raas suddenly declared, looking enlightened. ‘Ambassador Theo is right! We should embrace the teachings of Pohpi! To love and be kind to one another!’ 

‘Poopy,’ Theo repeated, looking at his parents with wide brown eyes.

‘Yes, praise Pohpi!’ the Raa leader said, raising his hands to the sky and closing his eyes. ‘Praise her!’

‘Poopy,’ Theo groaned.

‘Praise Pohpi, praise Pohpi!’ everyone in the room suddenly began to chant.

The Doctor and Rose looked at each other as Leah giggled and jumped up, chanting it too, for fun. The Doctor got up, and did the same. Rose, somewhat confused, followed.

‘Pohpi! Pohpi! Pohpi!’ they all said in unison.

‘POOPY!’ Theo screamed, now on the verge of tears.

‘Yes,’ the Raa leader said. ‘Scream the Blessed One’s name, for we seek forgiveness! Pohpi!  _ Pohpi!!!’ _

‘POOPY!!!’

‘Pohpi!!!’ the crowd screamed together.

Theo started crying.

‘The emotion is too much for the Ambassador!’ the Doctor said quickly, picking the boy up and whisking him out the room without another word. 

The others didn't notice, still chanting the name of their god.

* * *

Two hours later and the gallifreyan hybrid family were in the Grand Hall of the palace, standing in front of the throne. They were surrounded by guards and citizens from both the Jurr and Raa factions in a huge ceremony to honour their part in ending the war. Everyone was chatting excitedly amongst themselves as they waited for the king to enter.

‘I can’t believe we actually ran out of nappies,’ Rose muttered to the Doctor. 

The Doctor looked at Theo, who was now wearing a ripped part of a very expensive-looking golden silk-like bed sheet from their living quarters in place of a nappy. ‘I don’t know, I think it makes him look more Ambassador-y. Right, Theo?’

‘Yeh!’ Theo said happily.

Rose sighed a little. 

Suddenly the chatting died down, and the trumpets tooted triumphantly as the king entered, accompanied by an entourage of finely dressed men and women. The Doctor glanced at Rose and Leah, and got down onto one knee. They followed his lead.

‘Ambassador Theo, we are truly grateful for everything you have done for us,’ the King said. ‘You have resolved a conflict that has plagued our planet for far too many years. Thanks to your wisdom, perhaps we can finally progress together as united people and look forward to the stars.’

‘Here here!’ the crowd chanted, clapping. 

Theo giggled, and tried clapping too. 'Yeh!’

‘Of course, you shall be given the title of Lord Theo of Peroxnia. Besides this, there is not much we can offer you, but I am willing to fulfill any request you have at all to the best of my ability.’

Everyone looked at Theo expectantly.

‘The Ambassador thinks that your offer is very kind, but …’ the Doctor began.

‘The Ambassador means to say that actually, yes, there is somethin’,’ Rose interrupted. 

The Doctor looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

'Nappies,’ she said. ‘He wants nappies. Really,  _ really  _ wants them.’

* * *

As their requested nappies were fetched from the nearby town, the gallifreyan family was left in the throne room to wait. Leah had sat on the throne almost immediately after the planet’s residents had left, beaming a thousand-watt smile.

‘I’m Queen!’ she declared. Theo giggled happily.

‘What’s your first act?’ Rose asked with a grin as she pulled out her phone to take a picture.

‘Um … free chocolate for every time traveller!’ she said triumphantly.

‘That’s a good act, Your Highness,’ the Doctor said, dipping a bow.

‘I wish I was a real princess,’ Leah bemoaned.

‘Well, you  _ are  _ on six planets,’ the Doctor said.

Leah looked at him, wide-eyed. ‘Um, what?’

‘I’m taking a picture for everyone back on Earth,’ Rose said before the Doctor could reply, lifting her phone to Leah. ‘Smile!’


	10. The Holiday: Part Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor teaches Leah about the Tardis, before the Doctor and Jack receive an unwelcome visitor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have an obsession with setting myself crazy hard research projects in Time Lord matters, so today I present Tardisology. Everything here is according to The Whoniverse's TARDIS Technical Index website, with a couple of fun quirks thrown in so I can get cheap gags :P

_ ‘Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 4:59pm.’  _

‘The next photo was Rose covered in mud, sitting on a swing,’ Jack said. 

‘Yeah,’ the Doctor said. ‘It started with Leah’s birthday. I’d promised to teach her a bit about the Tardis. It was the next part of Leah’s Time Lady training. We’d done regeneration theory, bonding theory, we were working on regeneration practical, and now it was Tardisology.’

‘Tardisology,’ Jack repeated.

‘That’s what Rose called it,’ the Doctor said. ‘All the Tardis history and technical aspects. I started off by getting Leah in the console room and trying to explain the Tardis as I learnt about them when I was a kid …’

* * *

_ ‘... Rose couldn’t resist watching.’ _

‘Right,’ the Doctor began, leaning on the console and looking at his daughter. ‘So I know you know the basics. First of all, let’s cover the technical aspects. Tell me what you know about a Tardis.’

Leah straightened up, clutching her notebook and looking proud. ‘They were originally called TT capsules. They’re designed for six pilots. A Tardis relocates itself in N-Space by travelling in the Fifth Dimension.’

‘And what’s the Fifth Dimension?’

‘The vortex,’ Leah replied promptly.

‘So what are some of the features the Tardis uses to cope with the dangers of the vortex?’

‘A Tardis uses Vortex Shields to protect itself and if it hits Time Spillages a pilot uses muon based counter-magnetisation to stop the Time Signature getting erased and the Tardis getting lost.’

Rose blinked in surprise and confusion at the stream of words coming out of her six-year-old. 

The Doctor grinned. ‘Good. what else?’

‘Most of the Tardis' systems use billions of simultaneous calculations called Block Transfer Mathematics.’

‘Give me two core time travel equations.’

‘E equals MC cubed, and, err, 76Zs equals EQ cubed,’ she said after some slight hesitation.

‘Do we have any limits?’ the Doctor asked.

‘Yeah, we can’t go beyond the edge of creation, and we can’t go far before Event One or Event Two.’

‘Event One and Event Two are the creation and end of the Universe,’ the Doctor advised a confused Rose, before looking back at Leah. ‘So, how’s she powered?’

‘Artron energy. Tardises have a load of power sources, like the Universe itself, and the Eye of Harmony, connected by a node of morphologically unstable living organic matter.’ She paused, reconsulting her notebook. ‘Um, how do you power her without the Eye, now?’

‘Since it’s not possible to connect with the Eye of Harmony anymore, I’ve adapted her systems so she can draw power from the rift in Cardiff using the extrapolator. We’ve still got the node, but it’s more ornamental now. The Eye of Harmony made sure you had power across multiple universes so you could easily hop between realities, but now Gallifrey’s gone and we use the rift energy from  _ this  _ universe, that means she struggles for power in other universes.’

‘Like when we crashed in the parallel world,’ Rose recalled.

‘Exactly,’ the Doctor confirmed, nodding. ‘Without the Eye of Harmony, she had no multi-dimensional power source. Essentially, she ran out of fuel,’ he confirmed, and looked back at his daughter. ‘What else do you know?’

‘The interior of a Tardis is in a different dimension from the exterior, no matter where you are,’ Leah replied. 

‘Wait, we’re inside a different dimension even if we’re parked in Torchwood?’ Rose asked.

The Doctor nodded. ‘Think of the Tardis like an onion. The skin exists in the dimension we know and love, but they are layers and layers of dimensions stacking through the ship. That’s what makes her bigger on the inside - the transcendental dimensions. When you’re in the Tardis you constantly cross dimensions though you’re not aware of it, which are all compacted into an outer shell, held in place by these things called “dimensional dams”. If they spring a leak, you’re either going to be stretched across time and space like the biggest pancake ever, or compacted into a tiny single atom as you get crushed to death, unable to get out. And most of the time you won’t even notice if she’s sprung a leak. So it’s basically a slow, painful death that you don’t even notice happening until it’s too late. Not even the Tardis can tell.’

‘Err … are the Tardis’ dimensional dams okay right now?’ Leah wondered, looking a bit scared.

The Doctor clicked his tongue, contemplating. ‘You know what? I haven’t checked for ages. So, anyway …’

Rose and Leah looked at each other, wide-eyed.

‘Anything else?’ the Doctor asked Leah.

‘Yeah. A Tardis can only live for a couple of hundred years.’

Rose looked at the Tardis console, which she was sure had to be much older than that. ‘What?’

‘That’s not strictly true,’ the Doctor said. 

‘But it was in the books,’ Leah protested.

‘A Tardis can live for thousands of years with lots of TLC,’ the Doctor said. ‘But usually on Gallifrey they were decommissioned after a few hundred years. It was easier and cheaper to get a new one than to keep maintaining an old one, plus you could get fancy new models, like iPhone upgrades, quite often.’

‘How old is our Tardis?’ Leah asked.

‘Ask a rude question,’ the Doctor joked as the lights appeared to pulse around them. ‘I don’t know. What I do know is the first Type 40s were created around five thousand years before the Time War. Obviously factor in my linear timeline, my best guess is she’s around one and a half thousand years old.’

‘What happened to Tardises that died, then?’ Rose wondered.

‘They were “put to sleep” by their pilots by linking it to another Tardis and piloting it into the heart of a star,’ the Doctor replied. ‘Once there, the Tardises use the energies of the star to get to the Tardis graveyard.’

‘There’s a graveyard for Tardises?’ Rose asked.

‘Yeah. Well, there  _ was.  _ Not sure if it’s still there. Not a lot of people saw it anyway, it’s very hard to get to. Okay. What else, Leah?’

‘There were loads of different Tardis types on Gallifrey,’ Leah said. ‘But there wasn’t much in the books about that.’

He nodded. ‘The types were developed and enhanced over the years by gallifreyan engineers. Back on Gallifrey, we had Tardises used for scientific research labs, commercial Tardises, war Tardises, Tardises for your daily commute to the Panopticon, Tardises for moving around food and livestock, even taxi Tardises after your nights out in the Low Town. Our Tardis is a Type 40. Your basic, run-of-the-mill, common or garden, standard issue, typical, ordinary, middle-of-the-road … OW!’

He yelped and quickly withdrew his hand from the console from the mild electric shock that the TARDIS had evidently just given him.

‘Let me finish!’ he protested to his time machine, sucking his burnt fingers. ‘I was saying, she’s from common stock, yes, but our Tardis is really,  _ really  _ special. We’ll get to that.’

The TARDIS almost seemed to purr at that.

‘There have been at least 160 types of Tardis, all versions with varying degrees of success,’ he continued, shaking out his fingers. ‘Some were dangerous, some were useless, some were fine, others have had a complete mind of their own, ran away, and are probably still warping around the Universe some place. Some were extremely advanced, to the point of looking and acting like humanoids.’

‘Wait a minute, how did you get  _ inside  _ the humanoid Tar …’ Rose began with a frown, and then quickly stopped herself and held up her hands, glancing at the six-year-old. ‘Okay, don’t wanna know.’

The Doctor smirked. ‘By the end of the war, you even had Tardises physically giving birth to Tardises - they became that complex. But originally, they were grown from a seed or a cutting.’

‘How was our Tardis grown?’ Leah wondered.

‘Err, not sure, actually,’ he confessed. ‘Probably a seed ... A really beautiful, strong seed, full of seedy goodness,’ he added loudly, side-glancing at the console. 

She seemed to purr again.

‘Despite having all these different types, every Tardis is unique, and the later types were definitely sentient. All the Type 40s I’ve known have been more like machines, though, which is why our Tardis is extra special. She’s definitely sentient …’ He waved his minorly burnt fingers to illustrate his point. ‘... With a personality, and likes and dislikes, including liking and disliking people. Some say that Tardises can even talk to each other, and chat and gossip. You’ve got to think of the Tardis as less like a machine, and more like a person. If something’s wrong with her, she doesn’t need parts fixing, she needs organs healing. She needs tender loving care, not brake oil. Although actually, that helps too.’

‘You’re her doctor,’ Rose realised, grinning.

He smiled. ‘Yeah. Speaking of, Tardises have a, err …’ He reached to the console again, slightly warily, and touched her with her fingers. She didn’t seem to mind, so he got a bit more confident and patted her. ‘... A special bond with their pilot. It's like she's part of me, and I'm part of her.’

‘The symbiotic nuclei,’ Leah stated. The Doctor nodded.

‘What’s that?’ Rose asked.

‘When I went to the Time Academy and became a Junior Time Lord, my biodata was altered to include what we call the symbiotic nucleus, which basically makes me biologically a Time Lord and also able to connect with a Tardis. It’s inside my hearts. If it was ever taken out of me, that would kill me. The symbiotic nucleus lets you connect with a Tardis to form a semi-instinctual neural link. Essentially, we’re woven into each other. She needs dematerialisation codes that are hardwired into my genetics. She can’t function without me, and I can’t be a Time Lord without her. That’s why if I’m ill or if our connection is disrupted somehow, she struggles a little, and vice versa. The connection is so strong that Tardises have been known to kill themselves if their pilot dies with no regeneration, committing suicide by voluntarily flying into the heart of a star through sheer grief.’

‘When did you get our Tardis?’ Leah wondered.

‘Ah,’ the Doctor said, looking a bit awkward. ‘Well, originally, a Tardis actually chose her pilot when you were still a Junior Time Lord at the Academy. My first Tardis was a Type 50. Then when I needed to leave Gallifrey, I knew I couldn’t take my Tardis, so I went down to where they were storing the Tardises about to be destroyed, and stole one. This one,’ he said.

‘You just left your first Tardis?’ Rose asked seriously.

‘I had to,’ the Doctor replied. ‘And she wasn’t happy that I did that. Actually, she ended up chasing me across the Universe. But that’s a story for another day …’

The lighting in the console room suddenly seemed to get slightly redder.

‘Hey,’ the Doctor said to the rotor, patting the console again. ‘You’re the only one for me.’

The red light seemed to dull.

‘Being sentient isn’t the only reason she’s special, though,’ the Doctor continued. ‘Every Tardis before the Type 65s could  _ only  _ be safely operated by their chosen pilot. If anyone else without a symbiotic nucleus tried, their DNA helix would split open. But - and I don’t know how - our Tardis has found a bypass for that, so anyone can operate her if they know how. Our Tardis can also help, using the telepathic circuits to get an idea of where you want to go, and make sure you get there by subtly encouraging you to press the right buttons. But in order to do that, you have to put your faith in your “gut instinct”, because that’s how she’s telling you what to do.’

‘Wow,’ Rose said, gazing at the rotor.

‘So, what are some of her on-board features?’ the Doctor asked Leah.

‘The Tardis has a low level telepathic field, which translates languages, and also reads your surface thoughts.’

He nodded again. ‘Good. It helps her to adapt to what we want and need. Like I said, she can help non-pilots to get to where they want to go. Or, if I’m bursting for the loo, she can put the toilet directly in front of me. Or a mile down the corridor, depending on how annoying I’ve been.’

The buttons on the console flashed in a cascade.

‘She has day and night cycles taken from the brainwaves of the passengers, and she plays music all the time to keep passengers calm and relaxed,’ Leah stated, reading from her notebook.

Rose blinked, pausing to listen. ‘She does?’

The Doctor smiled. ‘Humans tell me it sounds like humming.’

‘Really?’ Rose asked, looking at Leah. ‘Can you hear music?’

‘Yeah, it sounds like a music box thing,’ Leah replied. ‘Can’t you hear it?’

‘No. Just me then,’ Rose moaned. ‘I thought that was just engines.’

‘Nope,’ the Doctor said. ‘Just her, singing, if you like, trying to keep us all in a good mood on a subconscious level.’

‘There’s also an auto cleaning function,’ Leah stated. 

‘Yeah. Unfortunately, as I’ve discovered in recent years, that doesn’t seem to work on baby food or finger paint,’ the Doctor lamented. 

Rose giggled. ‘Why not?’

‘Well, she’s supposed to wipe out all the excess particles of dust, mud, and debris, but obviously to do that, she needs to know the atomic and subatomic structure of all materials to safely remove them. Obviously, this database has to be limited to realistic ideas of the dirt that might gather in a Tardis …’

‘... And the gallifreyan engineers decided that baby food and finger paint wasn’t gonna be a problem?’ Rose completed, smirking.

‘Apparently not,’ the Doctor said, shrugging. ‘Next?’

‘The Tardis Type 40 has, like, every room you could ever want,’ Leah said. ‘If you gave a guided tour it would take a year to see everything.’

‘Yep. Also, if the dimensional structure is unstable or damaged somehow, you can get rooms falling into rooms,’ the Doctor said. ‘One day you might wake up and find your bedroom’s fallen into the library. You can also jettison rooms. I had to flush out the swimming pool after it got a leak, once. That was a bit messy.’

‘Probably was,’ Rose mused.

‘Okay, that’s everything for today,’ the Doctor told Leah.

Leah’s face fell. ‘But can’t I pilot her?’

‘No.’

‘Why?’ she moaned.

‘We haven’t even got anywhere  _ near  _ covering the Dynamorphic Generators, the Anti-Collision Control, or even any dematerialisation precautions, yet.’

‘But I’ve flown her before!’ Leah whined.

‘The last couple of times you've flown her I've had to gut out the gravitic anomaliser from the amount of time grime you've managed to leave behind.’

‘Time grime?’ Leah repeated, confused.

‘It's this brown gooey stuff that gets on the filter.’

‘Do you mean the gravitic backwash?’ Leah said, checking the notes she’d made.

Rose sniggered a little. 

The Doctor scratched his head. ‘You know what, Leah, in  _ this  _ Tardis, it’s called time grime.’

Leah frowned. ‘But it’s called …’

‘Anyway!’ the Doctor interrupted in a high-pitched voice. ‘Lesson over. We’ll resume another day.’

‘But I wanna fly!’ Leah complained.

‘No, you …’

‘Daddy!’ she said, immediately assuming her “adorable” pose, looking up at him under her long, fluttering eyelashes with her fists bunched into her shirt.

The Doctor immediately covered his face to avoid looking into his six-year-old’s cute and strangely hypnotic eyes. ‘No.’ He stated firmly.

‘Pleeease?’ she said, tugging on his trousers.

‘Nooooo,’ he replied in the same tone of voice.

‘Pleeeeease?’ 

‘Noooooo.’

‘Pleeeeease? It’s my birthday.’ 

‘No.’

‘Oh, for god’s sake, let her fly,’ Rose complained. 

The Doctor sighed, and dropped his hands. ‘Okay, okay,’ he said, stepping back and gesturing to the console. ‘Off you go.’

‘Yay!’ Leah chimed, and began scooting around. The Doctor dropped to sit next to Rose on the pilot’s chair, folding his arms. Leah still wasn’t quite tall enough to reach the very top buttons and levers.

‘So where are we going?’ the Doctor asked.

‘Dunno,’ Leah said, and with a bit of effort, pulled down the handbrake. The Tardis juddered and shook, and the parents had to quickly grab onto the seat to keep from crashing to the floor.

‘Careful!’ the Doctor complained.

‘What? You always do that,’ Leah told him as finally the time rotor began to pump and the shaking stopped.

‘She’s right,’ Rose told the Doctor, sticking her tongue out at him.

* * *

_ ‘Temperature 15 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 5:10pm.’  _

They were suddenly interrupted by the sound of distant, muted footsteps - specifically, high heels on stone. Immediately Jack started to panic.

‘Shit, shit. Play possum. Don’t open your eyes for anything,’ he ordered the Doctor, and after a scuffle he went quiet. The Doctor obeyed, closing his eyes and falling limp.

A heavy metal door opened, scraping across the stone floor. The footsteps continued, closer. Then, they stopped, right outside his cell.

He heard the sound of the forcefield drop, and then the footsteps moved up behind him, very close. He kept his eyes firmly closed as the overwhelming smell of sandalwood washed over him. He wanted to open his eyes to see who it was, but Jack’s panicked warning convinced him to stay limp.

The person moved around to his front. He then felt a hot breath on his face as they leant in, seemingly centimetres away from him. Hands clasped his cheeks, and he could feel long fingernails lightly scraping the stubble he’d grown on the bottom of his chin. one of the nails lingered perilously close to the main artery in his neck, like some kind of warning. This person knew gallifreyan anatomy.

He felt the fingers move up to his temples. Was this person telepathic? He didn’t have time to decide, so he quickly put up as many mental barriers as he could to shield himself from any mental intrusion.

After a few seconds, the hands dropped. A pause, as he thought they were about to leave. Then the person suddenly blew a sharp breath onto his face. Shocked a little, he couldn’t help but flinch. Had they noticed?

He heard a giggle, which sounded more like a purr. Now he knew for sure that it was a woman,  _ and  _ that she knew he was pretending.

To his utter astonishment, she didn’t do anything with that information. She simply walked away, back across the cell as the smell of sandalwood disappeared. The forcefield came back up, and the clip-clop of high-heels eventually faded away.

‘Shit, thank god,’ Jack muttered. ‘She didn’t do anything, did she?’

‘No,’ the Doctor replied, opening his eyes again to meet the same, upside-down grotty wall. ‘Who was that? Cruella de Vil?’

Jack laughed. ‘Oh, yeah,’ he realised, ‘you’ve got no idea, have you?’

‘No. She really overloads on the perfume, though.’

'We'll get to that part. Where were we?'

‘Tell me who that was and why you’re so scared.’

‘I told you, we’ll get there.’

‘How about now?’

‘How about no?’

The Doctor sighed. ‘Tell me, before I remember, how much do I actually  _ like  _ you?’

Jack laughed. ‘Anyway. Where did we get to?’

‘No,’ the Doctor said firmly. ‘No more stories until you tell me what’s going on and where Rose, Leah, and Theo are.’

‘For the millionth time, I can’t.’

‘Please, Jack.’

‘No. You have to trust me, Doctor. Please,  _ please  _ trust me. Because we’ve haven’t got much time left.’

‘Until what?’

‘Until you’re going to die.’


	11. The Holiday: Part Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Rose participate in the Silver Shell Moon Festival.

_ ‘Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 5:13pm.’  _

The Doctor’s frustration at Jack’s cryptic answers were really beginning to grind on him, but it was becoming increasingly clear that Jack wasn’t going to offer up anything more substantial.

‘Okay, I’ll go with you,’ the Doctor said, resigned. ‘How long have we got?’

‘I don’t know,’ Jack confessed. ‘Few hours? So how did Rose end up covered in mud?’ 

The Doctor abruptly decided, for a moment, that he was going to go with this apparent ‘friend’ of his. He didn’t have much choice. ‘Leah took us, completely randomly, to the Silver Shell. It’s a place known for its annual Moon Festival, when they celebrate the New Moon. Very pagan, lots of dancing and holding hands. I don’t know how Leah managed it, but we arrived just before the festival started, so we decided to stick around. A few hours into it, Leah was playing with the local kids and Theo had gone down …’

* * *

_ ‘... So it was just me and Rose.’ _

‘So when does the new moon come out?’ Rose asked the Doctor as they were sitting at a table, slightly away from the people dancing to celtic-like music, all laughing and cheering. The only sources of light were coming from fire torches placed around them as well as the moon itself, and little candles on the tables in a very quaint, olde-worlde atmosphere.

‘Bang on midnight,’ he replied. 

‘What's this ceremony they do, then?’

'Bit of a dance ritual, lots of music and fire. Then we all stand in a circle holding hands, more dancing, the appointed Moon Goddess chooses her Moon God, a bit more ritual dancing, then everyone gets very drunk.’

Rose laughed. 'Which one's the Moon Goddess, then?’ she asked, looking around and the people.

'The Moon Goddess is chosen by the light of the new moon,’ the Doctor explained. 'You'll see.’

'Okay,’ Rose said, and took another sip of her drink. 'Is Theo okay?’ she asked for the 96th time.

The Doctor subtly checked his handheld link to avoid the stares of the non-technological locals. ‘Even hearts rate and steady theta brainwaves. He’s still asleep and dreaming. I told you, don't worry. The Tardis will get our attention if anything changes.’

‘Yeah, I know,’ she said, pushing back her hair.

‘Hi,’ a familiar voice said as Leah returned, looking very tired.

‘Have fun? Make new friends?’ the Doctor asked.

‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘We played Tag for hours.’

‘You gotta be knackered,’ Rose said, grinning.

‘Nah, I’m fine,’ Leah insisted. 

‘Go to bed,’ Rose said. 

'I wanna see the new moon,’ Leah said. ‘Can I have a drink?’

The Doctor obligingly pushed his tankard of cider to his six-year-old daughter. ‘All yours,’ he said.

‘Thank you!’ Leah said, picking up the tankard in two tiny hands and wandering off to the party.

‘Doctor,’ Rose moaned. ‘Sure, let's get the six-year-old drunk.’

‘One pint won't affect her gallifreyan physiology.’

Rose rolled her eyes as the song playing ended, and a new one started. She finished off her drink then stood up, and held out her hand to him. ‘Wanna dance?’ she asked, grinning with her tongue between her teeth.

He smiled and stood up, taking her hand. Together they walked into the clearing where everyone was dancing. 

* * *

_ ‘Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 5:14pm.’  _

‘We completely lost track of the time,’ the Doctor said. ‘Pretty soon it was about ten minutes to midnight. Everyone stopped dancing to get ready for the ritual. Rose nipped to the loo and I found Leah, fast asleep under a tree. I took her to bed …’

* * *

_ ‘... And me and Rose met back in the clearing for the ritual.’ _

‘Stand here,’ the Doctor told her, placing her in a very precise position.

‘So what happens now?’ Rose asked as everyone chatted excitedly around them, beginning to form a circle.

‘I told you, everyone has a dance, the Moon Goddess picks her Moon God, more dancing, then everyone gets really drunk.’

‘What’s that?’ the asked, pointing to the large stone in the centre of the circle of people like a shard of obsidian sticking out of the earth, with a hole, like an eye, about the size of a basketball at the top.

‘Moonstone,’ the Doctor replied, taking her hand, and then taking the hand of the person on the other side of him.

She did the same in turn. ‘And what’s that?’ she asked, nodding at a kind of stone slab lying horizontally underneath the moonstone.

‘Just wait,’ he said with a coy smile.

‘I hate it when you get all mysterious and vague,’ Rose complained.

He grinned.

‘Seriously, what is it?’ Rose wanted to know. 

Suddenly the crowd fell silent, and a drumbeat began. The circle began to move slowly to the left. Rose desperately tried to mimic everyone else’s strange foot movement. She looked at the Doctor, who was doing it perfectly.

Progressively, the dancing became more lively. The music became faster and faster and more and more complex, until she was in a whirlwind of billowing dresses, kicking shoes, and the joyful laughs and spirit of the people dancing. Rose lost sight of the Doctor in the crowd as she danced, without fear or limitation, hand-in-hand with complete and total strangers in turn. She kept going, exchanging partners and speeding up, spinning and twirling and very well nearly falling over as she found herself completely lost in the music and the joy of the moment.

The music became even faster. She increased her speed, occasionally falling out of step, but none of her partners cared. They were all smiling and laughing as it became faster and faster and more and more complex. She weaved her way around the circle with more and more pace as the rhythm increased, until she finally grabbed the Doctor again, and he beamed a thousand watt smile as they continued the dance, round and round the circle. He changed partners again and they kept going ...

The music stopped, and everyone stilled. Rose only just about caught herself, stumbling to a halt. Suddenly everyone raised their hands to the skies, the Doctor included, so she did too.

‘Praise to the moon!’ one of the men yelled.

‘Praise to the moon!’ everyone echoed in turn.

‘Tonight the moon rises to challenge the sun!’

‘Tonight the moon rises to challenge the sun!’ everyone else echoed.

‘The light of the moon shall bathe the Goddess!’

‘The light of the moon shall bathe the Goddess!’ they all replied.

At that split second, The moon above them seemed to clear of the clouds, and she looked up in awe at the bright blue light. She realised that the shard in the centre was somehow refracting the moon’s light through the hole, building in intensity, until she found herself, and only her, lit up with intense blue light.

‘Wait …’ she began, realising immediately what that meant.

‘Praise to the new Moon Goddess!’ the circle of people chanted together as a drumbeat began, and they all began to circle her in a new dance. Someone pushed her forward into the centre of the circle to the moonstone and slab, which she grabbed and held onto for dear life. 

Rose eyed the Doctor, who was grinning as he participated in the dance. He’d known full well that her standing in that exact position would make her the Moon Goddess. He’d probably done the maths and necessary trigonometry when he was giving Leah a pint of cider.

‘You utter bas-’ she started, but couldn’t finish as the dance stopped again.

‘Moon Goddess!’ someone yelled from the side. ‘Choose your Moon God!’

Rose knew exactly who that was going to be. She pretended to look around the circle, as if contemplating, and finally pointed at the Doctor.

‘Him!’ she declared.

The Doctor bounded forward, as keen as mustard, to meet her by the stone. The circle started up in a new dance to accompany a new beat.

‘Dance,’ the Doctor suddenly hissed to her out of the side of his mouth, and began to dance a circle around the Moonstone. She followed, with no particular dance style in mind, following him around the Moonstone as the drumbeat persisted.

‘We offer our mortal spirits and bodies to you!’ 

‘We offer our mortal spirits and bodies to you!’ everyone chanted.

The Doctor suddenly stopped dancing and dived to the base of the Moonstone, which was a muddy mess. He took a handful of mud, and moved to her.

‘Wait ..’ she said, but it was too late. He slapped the mud onto her cheek and rubbed it all over her face. He then scooted back and grabbed more mud, and smeared her with that as well. She could do nothing but stand there, slightly stunned as she slowly became utterly filthy with everyone still dancing around them.

‘I’m gonna kill you,’ she moaned as the Doctor rubbed a lot of mud into her favourite jacket. 

He grinned. ‘It’s their ritual,’ he said, diving for more mud.

Pretty soon she was utterly caked in mud from the base of the moonstone, from her freshly-dyed hair, down her comfiest hoody and to her best pair of trainers. After he was done the Doctor started dancing again, so she did too, feeling about two stone heavier.

They danced twenty full circles around the moonstone, until the Doctor took her hand and pulled her gently back to the centre.

‘Howl at the moon,’ he said lowly.

‘Do what?’ Rose asked breathlessly, dearly hoping she’d misheard.

‘Howl,’ the Doctor repeated.

She stared at him. ‘Are you serious?’

‘Honest, this won’t end until you howl at the Moon.’

She sighed, and took a deep breath. ‘AROOOOO!’ she yelled to the skies. ‘AROOOOO! AROOOOO!’

It felt like she was howling for a good five minutes until the music stopped again, and the Doctor gently guided her to the slab. He encouraged her to lie down on it. She couldn’t say anything to the Doctor in the intense and sudden silence of the crowd, but now she was feeling like this really was some kind of sacrifice. Especially when the Doctor received a dagger from one of the people, a slow, loud drumbeat started, and he wiped the blade on the grass below the slab.

‘Doctor?’ she squeaked.

He adjusted his grip on the dagger, and lowered it slowly to her head. He then took a handful of her hair in his hand.

I’ve just had that done, she thought dully as he sliced through and lifted the fistful of her hair in triumph. In the low, steady drumbeat, he scattered the hair around the slab. He then took the dagger in both hands, and slowly raised it above her, as if ready to plunge. Before she had time to take this in, the drumbeat suddenly ‘thunked’ loudly in one precise beat.

‘The moonstone has chosen a goddess!’ the Doctor yelled, the dagger still raised.

Okay, that didn’t seem so sacrifice-y, Rose mused.

_ Thunk! Thunk! _

‘As Moon God, I assure the Moon that her soul is strong and worthy!’

Kind of poetic and nice, she thought.

_ Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! _

‘Therefore I asked the Moon to accept her spirit!’

… Hold on.

_ Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! _

‘The Moon shall use her life to be born anew!’

What?

The drum started rolling, and the Doctor pulled his arms back, tightening his grip on the handle. 

The crowd began to chant something, but she was panicking a little too much to care what that was. She was staring at the Doctor, wondering briefly if she’d wronged him in any way recently. But his small smile, kind eyes, and the knowledge that they had two children were enough to reassure her that he wasn’t about to stab her, despite her sense of mortality screaming otherwise.

The drums and the crowd fell dead silent again, and the Doctor, without any hesitation whatsoever, threw the dagger over her, directly through the hole in the Moonstone. 

‘The Moon approves!’ a man yelled joyfully. Everyone cheered and the dance resumed with twice the amount of energy as the Doctor grinned, and took her hands to pull her to stand up.

‘That was lucky,’ he said. ‘If I’d missed I’d have had to stab you.’

‘Well, that’s reassurin’,’ she supposed, grabbing at her muddy, half-cut and thoroughly destroyed hair as the people around them continued to dance.

* * *

Pretty soon everyone was, as the Doctor had said they would be, drunk. Rose had spent the past hour being given blessings by the worshippers amassing a host of fruits, meats, jewellery, and flowers. 

When the blessings trickled out, they retreated out of the way to a large tree with a swing on it. Rose took a seat immediately, exhausted.

‘That was crazy,’ she said, absently peeling off some of the dried mud on her hands.

‘Fun, though,’ the Doctor countered, dropping to lie back on the grass with his hands behind his head, eyes closed.

‘You know what, it was,’ she agreed, smiling. ‘I mean, once you didn’t sacrifice me, that is.’

‘Yeah, I find days go a bit better when I’m not being sacrificed,’ the Doctor agreed.

She smirked, swinging her legs back and forth lightly. ‘So what was that all about, anyway?’

‘Hmm?’

'The Moon Festival. Why do they pick a Moon Goddess and all that?”

'A ritual of renewal,’ the Doctor said, 'they basically have an understanding that the Moon rejuvenates annually, so to them they need a strong spirit to join with the Moon, who offers themselves to help it do its thing for another year. Helped along by a bit of dancing and all that, of course.’

'So now they think that my spirit is what's makin’ the moon work, yeah?’ 

'Exactly.’

'Oh,’ Rose muttered, and then frowned. 'Hold on. This isn’t just about the Moon bein’ born anew,’ she realised, staring at him. ‘This is about the Moon Goddess bein’ born anew, too.’

'Now you've got it,’ the Doctor said, grinning a little. 

‘You  _ made  _ me do that so I'd be reborn.’

'Did it work?’ he wondered.

She thought about that seriously for a moment. 'Weirdly, yeah.’

A small smile crept onto his face as he gazed at her. 'You look ridiculous,’ he joked.

'Like you had nothin’ to do with it,’ she reprimanded, lightly kicking his arm.

His smile widened. 'Where’s your phone?’ he asked suddenly, sitting up.

'Err, left pocket. Why?’

He located the phone, pulling it out and unlocking it. He then pointed the camera straight at her.

'No, wait, no,’ Rose garbled, immediately covering her face.

'You’re the one that's saying we should log our visits with everyone back on Earth,’ he pointed out. 'Tell them where we've been, and all that ‘

'Not like this!’ she moaned, still covering her face.

'Okay,’ he said, and held out her phone back to her. She went to take it, but he quickly pulled it away out of reach.

'Stop teasin’!’ she complained.

'No, this is a proposition,’ he countered. 'Instead of me taking a photo, we could just go back.’

She lowered her hands from her face, confused. 'You wanna go back to Earth?’

‘You could have a bath, go to bed, and we could go back tomorrow morning. Then you can tell everyone about the Moon Goddess ritual in person.’

'But we're still bein’ chased.’

He pulled a face. 'Actually, it's pretty likely that they stopped doing that last month sometime. I've given it an extra month to be sure. Now, it's decision time. Either we can go back tomorrow and tell them, or we can take a picture, send it, and keep on travelling. What d’you think?’

He lowered the phone for her to take back if she wanted to. She looked at it for quite a while, and then shook her head.

'I don't wanna go back,’ she realised.

‘No?’

'I wanna keep going. For the last few months, with you and Leah and Theo, I've felt like … like normal.’

‘Yeah?’

She nodded, and posed for a photo.

He beamed, raised the phone, and took the picture of her, sitting on the swing covered in mud.

* * *

Three hours later, and the Doctor was woken up by Rose next to him, back in the grip of a nightmare. He turned over immediately, putting his fingers on her temple and concentrating, hard. After a moment, he closed his eyes, and directly saw inside the dream.

It was very fuzzy, but he could see Rose was sitting in some kind of dark and foreboding non-place, surrounded by overbearing walls. She was screaming, and walls were moving in to crush her, eeking and scraping along the concrete, closer and closer, inch by inch …

She saw him, and he could immediately see the sheer terror and fear in her face. An expression he instantly hated himself for recognising.

'Doctor!’ her warped, dream voice cried somewhere in among a myriad of her scattered thoughts and feelings. 'I can't stop them! They're gonna crush us!’

He stepped forward with confidence, grinning at her and rubbing his hands together, before he suddenly threw out his arms. Blasts of energy came spiralling out of his hands and slamming into the walls, rebounding around in a dazzling light display. He stood firm and still, like an immovable rock, waiting for Rose's dreamscape to do its job and give him complete power and omnipotence, as usual.

Within half a second, she did. She grabbed into his leg as if holding on for dear life as the walls suddenly blasted back and shattered in all directions, falling away to nothing.

He lowered his arms and knelt down to her. Things were much sharper, now.

'Okay?’ he prompted, taking her hand.

He wasn't expecting much of a reply from her dream self, just some vague acknowledgement that something had happened. But she didn't. She was just knelt there, her eyes slowly becoming wider and wider.

'Rose,’ he said firmly. 'Danger’s gone.’

'No …’

'I sorted it.’

'I can't breathe …’

He quickly checked both her and her surroundings for some sort of threat, but there wasn't anything to see. 'You’re fine. There's nothing here.’

She suddenly started to gasp, her hands around his neck like she was trying to peel someone's hands off. 'G-g-get … o-o-off!!!’ she managed to get out through strained, pained gasps.

'Rose!’ the Doctor demanded, trying to get hold of her hands to take them away from her neck, but they were resolute. He  _ knew  _ this was a dream, but he found himself becoming seriously unsettled. Her eyes were bulging, she  _ genuinely _ looked like she was being strangled … he could  _ feel  _ her being strangled ...

'H-h-help!’ she managed to squeak.

He couldn’t stop it, so he did the only thing he could think to do. He grabbed her shoulders and screamed directly in her face:  _ ' _ wake up!!!’

Suddenly the dreamscape disappeared and he found himself back in their bed, his fingers still on her temples. A split second later Rose's eyes snapped open and she screamed, sitting up dead straight.

'It’s okay!’ the Doctor said quickly. 'It was a dream!’

For a moment she just sat there, petrified, panting. She hugged herself as she checked her reflection nervously in the mirror across the room. He checked her, too, especially her neck. There was, of course, nothing to see. 

He quickly shifted across the bed to wrap her up in a hug. She held onto him, crying and shaking.

* * *

'What do you remember about the nightmare?’ the Doctor asked her ten minutes later in the infirmary. They were sitting on a bed with cups of tea, the Doctor giving her plenty of handheld scans to check she was okay. He’d managed to significantly calm her down.

'I don't remember much,’ she confessed, ‘but I remember being really,  _ really _ scared. I know someone was tryin’ to … crush me. Squeeze me until everything inside came out. Then someone was stranglin’ me, yeah? It felt so real. I thought I was gonna die. It wasn’t like a normal dream. You know how in a dream it's not a totally clear image or feelin’? I felt it properly, like it really happened.’ She reached up to her neck, touching it experimentally. ‘God, it's like I can still feel hands there …’

‘Didn't happen,’ the Doctor replied firmly. 'I mean, for one thing, if you had then you'd have bruises on your neck, or at the bare minimum some sort of tissue damage.’ He waved the portable mediscan around her neck to reinforce his point as it emitted a negative noise to indicate that there was nothing out of the ordinary. 

‘I know. But it just felt so real.’

He nodded, jabbing at the portable mediscan to do a different set of readings, running it down her again. 'It was a nightmare, that's all … oh, that’s weird.’

‘What?’ she asked.

‘Your level of psi radiation has gone up,’ he replied, and then saw her confused expression. ‘Sorry, err … it’s basically a bit like that radiation you soak up in the vortex, except it’s for psionics, like telepathy and telekinesis.’

‘So what, I’ve got more than usual? What does that mean?’ she asked.

‘There’s a huge concentration of psionic energy on you,’ he replied. ‘Basically, it means your telepathic centres have become more receptive than usual. I haven’t seen you at these levels since that whole thing with the Moirai.’

‘Is this to do with you?’ Rose wondered. ‘I mean, you use telepathy to get in my dreams, yeah? Does that affect it?’

‘Well yeah, a bit,’ the Doctor replied, ‘but I can't think why it should affect you to this extent. Should be backfiring more on me, to be honest.’ To confirm that theory, he gave himself a quick scan, then showed her the results. ‘Yep. I’m full of psi. But why are you?’

‘Is this bad?’ she asked seriously.

‘No, psi radiation is totally harmless. It’s just a bit weird.’ He finished checking her, and set down the scanner. ‘Otherwise, you’re fine. Tip-top condition.’

‘Okay,’ Rose said, taking her cup of tea for a sip.

‘By the way, sorry,’ he suddenly said.

‘For what?’ she asked, confused.

‘When we were talking about the Tardis I mentioned not checking the dimensional dams for ages. I think that’s how your nightmare got started.’

‘I knew you were kiddin’,’ Rose said.

‘I don’t think your subconscious did,’ the Doctor replied. 

She laughed a little. ‘Come on, you didn’t know. Have you actually checked them?’

‘Yep, all perfect,’ the Doctor replied, lying with dazzling confidence.

‘Good,’ she said, and her eyes drifted to the door. ‘I don’t wanna go back to bed.’

‘Didn’t think you would,’ the Doctor replied. ‘Want to go somewhere?’

She thought about that. ‘No,’ she concluded. ‘Let’s watch the telly like normal people.’

He nodded, smiling. ‘Go on, I’ll be there in a bit. I’m hungry.’

‘I still don’t get how you’re so thin,’ she joked, kissed him, and left. He paused for a moment, waiting until she had truly gone. Then he got up and moved to a nearby terminal, and initiated a quick remote scan of the dimensional dams. 

Within ten seconds, the results came through. There was a slight tear in one of them. They’d have all been crushed to death in one week.

He momentarily gazed at the results, and quickly set the TARDIS auto-repair to fix it over the next few hours.


	12. The Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family visit an alien market, but severe danger is waiting just around the corner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you had fun while it lasted :o

_ ‘Temperature 15 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 5:25pm.’  _

Suddenly the Doctor’s head seemed to explode in a fiery, excruciating headache, burning behind his eyes. He inadvertently cried out, slamming his eyes shut and gritting his teeth to try and cope through the thumping, pounding pain. His senses were being overworked, with the sound of his heartsbeat in his ears, the feel of each atom of the cold metal chains on his wrists and ankles rubbing against his skin, and the overpowering stench of sandalwood seemingly everywhere.

‘Doctor?’ Jack asked quickly.

‘My head,’ the Doctor gasped.

‘Block your brain, quick,’ Jack said. ‘Raise the shields as much as you can.’

The Doctor did as he was told, trying desperately to layer up his telepathic shields and hoping dearly that it would somehow reduce the pain. It didn’t. It got worse. ‘That’s not helping!’ the Doctor cried.

‘You  _ have  _ to!’

Despite the building pain, the Doctor obeyed Jack’s order. He could feel something trying to get inside his head, but it was being repelled by the shields. Just when the Time Lord thought he was going to pass out, the something stopped, and the pain, the thumping, and the awfully potent smell receded.

‘It’s stopped?’ Jack asked.

‘Yeah … I could smell her again,’ the Doctor said. ‘The sandalwood.’

‘But it’s gone, now?’

The Doctor purposefully sniffed, if only slightly hesitantly. There was nothing, so he sniffed deeper. Now, he could only smell the dingy dungeon. ‘Yep, gone.’

‘Do you know if she managed to get in at all?’

‘Nah, she didn’t get in,’ the Doctor replied. 

‘If she ever does that again, you’ve got to stop her.’

‘So, she can’t know that I’m remembering what happened,’ the Doctor supposed.

‘No,’ Jack confirmed. ‘But we’ve got to hurry up. Everytime she does that we lose more time. Skip a bit. Tell me about Hivernia.’

The Doctor frowned. ‘Well, it’s a planet in the seventh cluster of Margese, three moons, two suns. Nice cafe in town next to the cinema that gives out free doilies, and …’

He stopped suddenly as a memory slammed into his head. He was lying on a bed in some dilapidated room, with the smell of sandalwood playing absolute havoc with his senses ...

‘Wait, I smelt that sandalwood before,’ the Doctor said, frowning. ‘I mean, before I woke up here. Something ... something … I can’t remember. It was on Hivernia. What happened?’

‘I can’t help you,’ Jack said. ‘I don’t know how it happened. Between The Moon Festival and Hivernia you kept going to places, and you started making phone calls to us as you got a bit more relaxed. We spoke with Theo a couple of times, and also we talked to you guys through the monitor. All I know is you were in the market on Hivernia when it happened.’

Something came eeking back, bit by bit. ‘Yeah,’ the Doctor said. ‘We … well, Theo was eleven-months-old by then, so we decided we’d go back to Torchwood for his birthday. Rose wanted to get everyone some presents. Souvenirs, she said. I didn’t understand …’

* * *

_ ‘... But I agreed to take her to one of the biggest markets in the Universe.’ _

The family were standing in the entrance of Hivernia’s huge, diverse, and lively market, filled to the brim with tourists and stalls that seemed to be selling everything that had ever been available across the Universe. The utter bombardment of smells, sights and sounds was quite overwhelming.

‘Where to?’ the Doctor asked Rose, standing next to her holding Theo’s hand.

Rose paused for quite a while, just staring. ‘I literally don’t know where to start,’ she confessed.

‘Can I explore?’ Leah asked eagerly.

‘Yeah,’ the Doctor said. ‘But be really careful. This place is a maze. Good rule of thumb is to keep the sea on your left side.’

‘Have you got your phone?’ Rose asked the Doctor.

‘Err …’ he briefly checked all of his pockets, and found the seldom-used device Jackie had given him, buried deep inside his coat. ‘Yep.’

‘Take his phone,’ Rose said, handing it to Leah. ‘Just call mine if you get lost or anythin’. We’ll meet back here in three hours, yeah?’

‘Okay!’ Leah said happily, and ran off. Theo attempted to follow Leah in his now customary drunken-looking waddle, but the Doctor quickly scooped him up, stopping him in his tracks with his little arms still waving after his departing sister.

‘Go wif Leah?’ Theo asked, gazing at his dad with big brown eyes under his floppy blond hair and an expression that could probably even melt the heart of a Cyberman.

‘Nope, you’re not going with Leah,’ the Doctor said. 

‘Da, I go wif Leah,’ Theo insisted, pointing to where the girl had gone and looking back and forth between his father, and where Leah had gone.

‘I said no,’ the Doctor repeated. 

‘Aww,’ Theo said, purposely moving his mouth into a melodramatic frown. ‘But I sad, Da. See? Am sad. Sad face, Da.’

Rose giggled. The Doctor sighed. 

‘Imma cry, Da. I cry,’ Theo said, and immediately his bottom lip started to wobble in the sure sign of an oncoming flood of forced tears.

‘No, no,’ the Doctor said quickly, stooping to the boy. ‘Look. We’ll do whatever you want for a bit. How's that?’

Theo immediately smiled again, every trace of tears suddenly gone. ‘Okay, we geh food, now?’ 

* * *

After eating their second and third breakfasts of the day, Theo and the Doctor’s near-infinite hunger finally seemed to be sated, and they could get on with trying to find some presents. After two and a half hours, they’d amassed a collection of strange alien artefacts and assorted gifts for everyone at Torchwood, and a few new clothes and pieces for Theo and Leah. Luckily the Doctor had thought ahead, and had rigged up a basic transmat to get everything back to the Tardis.

‘Last stall, then we’d better head back if we want to meet Leah,’ the Doctor said.

‘Okay,’ Rose said as they stepped up to a final stall, filled with strange wooden things. The alien woman at the stall gave them a big smile.

‘Hi!’ she greeted. ‘Can I help?’

‘Just browsin’, thanks,’ Rose replied, searching through the goods.

‘Okay!’ the woman said.

‘Ma, Da, I geh dat, peas?’ Theo suddenly asked, pointing up at some wooden artefact on the stall. 

‘This one?’ the Doctor asked, picking up a carved tubblex dragon with big eyes and movable wings.

‘Yeh,’ Theo said, reaching up. The Doctor gave it to him, and he started playing with it.

‘Aww, he’s such a cutie, isn’t he?’ the stall attendant said, waving at Theo.

Theo looked up, and waved back. ‘Yeh, am cute,’ he agreed, and continued playing.

The alien woman giggled in delight. ‘Aww. Bless him. What’s his name?’

‘Theo,’ Rose replied. ‘He’s eleven-months-old.’

‘Aww, is it your birthday soon?’ the woman said, beaming from ear to ear. 'I remember when mine was that age, he …’ The woman was suddenly interrupted by her phone ringing. 'Oops! Sorry, excuse me,’ she said to the Doctor and Rose, and moved off to take the call.

‘What’s this?’ Rose asked the Doctor, beckoning him over to look at one of the items on the stall. The Doctor recognised it immediately.

'It’s a Roeshun trinket box,’ the Doctor told her. 'You have to blow on the lid to make it open.’

'Oh, something for Mum,’ Rose supposed, giving a little blow. The lid pinged back to reveal a plush, velvet-like interior. 'Oh, that's cute.’

It was then the Doctor realised that he couldn't hear the sounds of Theo playing anymore. He turned abruptly, and his hearts promptly seized up as he realised …

* * *

_ Temperature 16 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 5:34pm.’  _

‘He was gone.’

The Doctor's hearts seemed to palpitate at his own words, and every syllable felt like a tiny little dagger.

‘Shit,’ Jack swore.

'I was trying not to panic. He was adventurous and usually ended up in random places he wasn't supposed to be. Once, on Jern Four, he'd completely vanished while we were in a church. We eventually found him in the bell tower, trying to pull on the cords. Another time, on Ker’kow, he'd run off and turned out he'd found a Venusian Aikido class in session and was trying out some moves that was only just after he'd started walking, too. So we were used to him disappearing. But this time … I instantly had this feeling in my gut that it was different.’

'Was it the Bar’zellis?’

The Doctor swallowed. 'Yes. And I knew it about ten seconds after he'd gone. We started shouting for him, but he didn't reply. Usually he does. Usually we call for him and he yells he wants to play hide and seek. He logically hadn't gone far so he would've heard us if he'd just run off. But he … didn't answer. That's when I knew.’

'God, they picked their moment,’ Jack muttered.

'Yeah. I think it was a complete coincidence that they were in the market. They couldn't have possibly known we were there beforehand.’

‘What happened next?’

'Me and Rose pushed through the crowd, screaming for him. We asked everyone if they'd seen someone run by with a humanoid boy, and luckily they had. We followed directions and ended up running through half the city until we got to this abandoned boathouse. I told Rose to stay out, hide in case he had a friend, and text Leah to get back to the Tardis, then I went in. The Bar’zelli agent from Torchwood was standing there. He was quite a few years older …’

* * *

_ ‘... And he was holding my crying, terrified son.’ _

The gentle, rhythmic sound of the ebbing wash of water lapping against the boathouse was doing nothing to calm the Doctor's anger as he came face-to-face with the Bar'zelli agent on a walkway, who had a crying Theo slung under one arm.

'Don't come any closer!’ the Bar'zelli agent yelled.

The Doctor eyed the Bar’zelli agent up for a moment. He had to play this calmly, but his connection with Theo amplified with Rose’s stress through the bond was making being calm very,  _ very _ difficult. Despite how strong his primal, parental urge was to tear the agent limb from limb, he had to be clever. Give himself time to think. He had to do what he did best. Talk.

‘Da!’ Theo cried.

‘Don't worry, Theo, it’s just an adventure,’ the Doctor told the boy, not moving his gaze.

‘Don’t come any closer or I'll chuck the kid over the rails!’ the agent threatened.

The Doctor pointedly looked over the side of the walkway to the stone ground twenty feet below. 'Well, that seems pretty unlikely considering that would kill him instantly,’ he said. He stepped forward. His senses increased tenfold, to the degree that he could hear the sound of the market half a mile away. 

‘Just shut up!’ the agent demanded, his voice trembling. The agent was scared, the Doctor realised. Scared of him.

‘I’m trying very,  _ very  _ hard not to lose my temper,’ the Doctor said evenly. ‘I  _ told  _ you what would happen if you lot carried on with this.’

‘No,’ the agent said, shaking and occasionally glancing to their right, where the door was. The Doctor considered this, and then considered the agent’s age. Then, he noticed some scars on the agent, some old, some new, that hadn’t been there when he’d met him in Torchwood. Accidental? Caught up in a fight? Or ...

He abruptly realised that it wasn’t  _ him  _ the agent was scared of - it was the Bar’zellis.

Time to change tact.

‘How long has it been since you were in Torchwood?’ the Doctor wondered, stepping forward. ‘Five years? Ten? Twenty? Has this been your only assignment for all that time? To find my son?’

‘Shut up, don’t take another step!!!’ the agent cried again, pulling out a gun and pointing it at the Time Lord. 

‘Okay, okay, I’m not taking another step,’ the Doctor said, hands in the air. ‘Just talk to me. I want to resolve this without any one, least of all my son, getting hurt. Whatever the Bar’zellis blamed you for, whatever they did to you, I can help.’

‘You have _ no _ idea what happened because of what you did!’ the agent yelled.

‘Maybe not, but I can have a pretty good guess,’ the Doctor told him, nodding to the scars on his face. ‘I’m assuming that the other agent was somehow related to the heads of the Bar’zelli organisation. They think I killed him, and they blamed you for letting it happen. You’ve been caught up for twenty years trying to repay your debt to them. But you don’t have to live like this. I can help you. I have a time machine. I can whisk you away, different time, different place. I know a lot of people across the universe. I can get you somewhere to live, a job, a new identity. The organisation will never find you. You can escape. I’ll do that for you. I’ll arrange everything. We can go right now. All I want in return is my boy.’

The agent hesitated slightly. 

Suddenly the Doctor heard Rose cry out, and the door of the boathouse crashed open. The Doctor whirled around and saw at least five more Bar’zelli agents flooding inside, one of them holding Rose.

Game over, the Doctor realised.

‘Run, Doctor!’ Rose cried out. ‘Get Theo and run!’

‘Shut up you jai’kl human trash,’ one of the newcomers spat. The Doctor recognised him immediately. He was one of the heads of the Bar’zelli organisation - the very one who had put the bounty on the Doctor’s head when he’d first visited Sirrus. ‘Bac’ou,’ he realised. 

‘Long time no see, Time Lord!’ Bac’ou spat, his eyes on fire. ‘You think you can murder my nephew and get away with it!?’

‘I didn’t murder him, he …’

‘Shut up!’ Bac’ou shrieked, aiming his gun straight at Rose’s head. ‘Else it’s bye bye human, and I know you like those!’

‘Bac’ou, calm down,’ the Doctor said quickly, his hands still in the air in surrender. ‘She’s not a threat, let her go.’

‘Of course!’ Bac’ou said, pulling a very fake, and  _ very  _ crazy smile. ‘I’ll just let my advantage get away, how’s that? How stupid do you think I am? Just because you got away last time does that mean I’m a dumb k’ashi?’

‘No,’ the Doctor said quickly. 

‘Come on, say it!’ Bac’ou shouted, strolling up to him and aiming his gun between the Doctor’s eyes, ramming it against his forehead. ‘Bac’ou, you’re a dumb k’ashi! Go on!’

The Doctor said nothing, his eyes flickering to Rose, who looked utterly terrified.

‘Oh, but you were so  _ keen  _ to say it last time you jumped up Time Lord,’ Bac’ou taunted. ‘Is it because I’ve got your son?’

‘Bac’ou,’ the Doctor said softly, looking straight into his eyes. ‘Let’s do a deal.’

Bac’ou laughed. ‘I’ve got a little gallifreyan hybrid kid worth a thousand times his weight in credits when I sell him to the highest bidder, what could  _ you  _ offer me that could possibly be worth that!?’

‘Myself,’ the Doctor said quickly. ‘I’ll come quietly, I’ll do everything you want. I won’t try and escape, you can imprison me, torture me, sell me, do whatever you  _ want  _ with me …’

‘But let the little four-limbed goldmine go?’ Bac’ou supposed, and laughed. ‘Fat chance. You’d better say your farewells to your kid, ‘cos you’re never gonna see him again.’

‘Please …’

‘Oh, he’s  _ begging!’  _ Bac’ou said to his group, laughing in delight. ‘I’ve got the high and mighty clever higher species Time Lord  _ begging  _ me. Love this. What happened to your threats? What happened to chasing the organisation and getting rid of all of us?’

The Doctor swallowed.

‘I’m sorry, I can’t hear you!’ Bac’ou stated, cupping his pointed ear. ‘You’re fulaking pathetic you jai’kl.’ He looked over the Doctor’s shoulder at the agent holding Theo, who was still crying. ‘Get the kid ready for passage. Sedate it if you have to shut it the hell up, I don’t wanna hear that all the way back home.’

Something inside the Doctor snapped. He suddenly threw out his hand and knocked the gun clean out of Bac’ou’s hand, sending it skittering across the grating of the walkway. He tried to dart back to grab Theo, but the agent who had his son - the one he thought he’d gotten through to - was pointing his gun straight between his hearts.

_ Sorry,  _ the agent mouthed, and pulled the trigger at point blank range. 

The Doctor’s entire body abruptly felt like it had been split into two, rather messy halves and he went spiralling up into the air, flying briefly before crashing down onto the grating five metres away with quite a clang. Somehow he managed to instinctually grab the railing to stop himself from rolling off and crashing to the concrete twenty feet below, but after that, his arm dropped, useless, with his body half-hanging off the walkway.

For a moment he just lay there awkwardly in complete shock, his stunned brain wondering what the hell had just happened. His ears were clammed up like he was underwater, with his vision burning with black at the edges, threatening unconsciousness. But he couldn’t pass out. Not now. He needed to move, to get up, to do … something … they needed … souvenirs … to shop for … nappies?

He managed to move his arm a little to lay over his chest, where all the bad feelings were coming from, wondering vaguely that maybe one or both of his hearts had fallen out and he needed to push them back in where they were supposed to be. In the haze of confusion that followed with him groping around, trying to find the loose internal organs, he realised that the thing that usually indicated he was alive - that beating thing - wasn’t there. 

Something moved into his vision. A face. A face he knew was bad news. They said something, and then something pressed into his side. He could do nothing to stop them as he was pushed over the edge of the walkway, and the last thing he saw was the hard, unforgiving concrete ground twenty feet below rushing towards him at quite a pace.


	13. Divided

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor is seriously hurt, and Rose tries to save their lives.

_ ‘Temperature 15 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 5:36pm.’  _

‘How am I still alive and in the same body?’ the Doctor wondered. It was a bit strange that now he recalled it, he could seem to feel a dull, seemingly persistent aching in his chest, right between his hearts. 

‘Well, both you and Rose didn’t know it at the time, but it had been a stun shot, not a live one,’ Jack replied.

‘But at that range? That’s still like being hit by a lorry.’

‘Yeah,’ Jack agreed. ‘I don’t suppose you remember much after that.’

‘No,’ the Doctor replied. ‘Do you know what happened?’

‘Yeah, I was there,’ Jack replied. ‘Well, kind of. I know Leah was waiting for you in the Tardis …’

* * *

_ ‘... Scared out of her mind.’ _

Leah had been waiting anxiously in the console room clutching the phone in a white knuckle grip, terrified as to what was happening beyond its walls. Her mum’s series of messy misspelled texts was enough to let her know that something was seriously, seriously wrong. All she knew was she had to stay inside the TARDIS, hoping that her mum, dad, and brother would come rushing in at any moment, accompanied by some laughing and chatting about how close some daring enterprise had been, like it usually went.

Nothing happened for five minutes, but she stayed still, until the moment there was a sudden white flash and the sound of digital breakup from across the console room. She jumped, startled, and got up to walk around and look at what it was.

It was her daddy, but in holographic form, in a pasty, semi-transparent blue, with the occasional flash of digital breakup running through him. He smiled, and after a pause, he beckoned someone to his left. Her mummy stepped in beside him as her own hologram, and waved.

_ ‘This is Emergency Program Three,’  _ her daddy started.  _ ‘Now listen up, Leah, because we’ve made this one especially for you.’ _

* * *

Rose watched, absolutely horrified, as the Doctor fell the long way down, completely helpless. She immediately snapped her eyes closed, but she could do nothing to block out the sound of him hitting the ground with an exceptionally unpleasant noise.

Silent seconds passed. She dared to open her eyes, and saw Bac’ou leaning over the railing, gazing down at the body. Rose couldn’t bring herself to look.

‘Better get out of here to the dock, boss,’ one of the agents said, checking his watch. 

‘Okay,’ Bac’ou said, and walked over to some control panel. He lifted up the lid of the box, and pulled down a lever. The boat entrance door to the sea clicked, groaned, and started slowly moving up. A wave of water came under the gap, and began to fill up the area where the Doctor was.

Bac’ou then shot the control panel, and it fizzed and hissed, sparking wildly. He gave Rose a look, and smiled. ‘Sorry for your loss,’ he said, and activated a teleport. All six of them disappeared in a whoosh of light.

‘Ma!’ Theo’s cry rang out, echoing and fading into nothing as he went with them.

For a moment, Rose just stood there, utterly shocked.

She  _ had _ to move. She  _ had _ to do something. The water level was increasing quickly. Without looking at the Doctor, she forced herself to run over to the control panel, practically tearing off the lid and frantically pulling the lever back up to try and lower the door again. There was no response whatsoever from it. Bac’ou’s shot had taken care of that. The floodgate continued to rise, and the water level continued to increase.

She didn’t have much time. She rushed across the walkway to the access door that led down to the Doctor. Inevitably, it was locked.

She desperately kicked at it, grabbed it and yanked it, but it didn’t shift. It wasn’t working. She looked around, trying to find a solution, and realised the gun the Doctor had knocked out of Bac’ou’s hand was still on the walkway, teetering on the edge.

She ran forward, and grabbed it before it could fall. She then pointed it straight at the lock on the door, and fired.

The lock instantaneously burnt to a crisp and the door sprung open. She careered down the steps two at a time, and finally looked at the Doctor.

There he was, lying motionless in an awkward heap of limbs, with blood in the water around him. 

* * *

_ ‘When you were born, Leah, it was the strangest, most bewildering thing that had ever happened to me,’  _ her holographic daddy said, ‘ _ and you know, I don’t say that lightly. In fact, there was this one time in this Tiki Bar on Kla Minor where the barman asked if I wanted a party hat, and I said I …’ _

_ ‘Um, Doctor,’  _ her mummy interrupted, digging him in the ribs.

_ ‘Ow!’  _ her daddy said, and sighed.  _ ‘Yeah, sorry. Um, well anyway, having you was very strange. It was this tidal wave of unconditional love, intense confusion, and serious, serious fear. We’re recording this message when you’re two-years-old, Leah, and already we’ve all been in incredible danger more times than any of us can count. This lifestyle is definitely not health and safety approved, but you know that. Hopefully, by the time you’re seeing this message, we’d have spent many long years together, and you’ll be old enough to fully understand that fear me and your mum both have. The fear that one day, it will get too dangerous for us to go on together. This is that day, Leah. I’m sorry.’ _

‘What!?’ Leah gasped.

_ ‘Sensors have detected that me, or your mum, or both of us, are in very, very serious danger with potentially fatal repercussions. So we’ve created this Emergency Program to make sure you stay safe. After this message finishes, the Tardis will automatically take you back to Torchwood.’ _

‘But I …’

_ ‘No argument,’  _ her holographic daddy interrupted.  _ ‘What happens after that, is the Tardis will power down, and you won’t be able to use her until you’re old enough to establish a neural link with her, or … err, what was the second one again?’  _ he asked her mummy.

_ ‘Or until one or both of us gets back to Earth, assuming we escape,’  _ her mummy filled in.

_ ‘Yeah, but don’t worry about that,’  _ her daddy said.  _ ‘We will get back, some day, somehow. But until that day, if it ever comes, we’re leaving the Tardis in your care. Everything is now your responsibility.’ _

* * *

The water was already engulfing the Doctor’s nose and mouth. Rose jumped into the ankle-deep water, splashing forward and grabbing him under the arms, holding him against her legs so his head was up above the water. Her hands, top and jeans immediately turned red, which not even the sea water could seem to wash off for the moment. 

She dragged him back to the steps, and hauled him up to the first level just a few feet above the concrete, struggling with his weight. She took a moment to catch her breath, but realised she didn’t have long. The water was now rising at quite a pace - it had already reached the bottom of the first step. With some sort of superhuman strength, she forced herself onwards, up the second set of steps that lead back to the walkway. 

Pretty soon she was tiring. She was only halfway up when she had to stop again, gasping for air. The boathouse door was now fully open, and the water level was hotly pursuing her. If she could  _ just  _ get him the last few metres to the walkway, they’d be okay …

Now reduced to inching along, one step at a time, the water was nearly back at the Doctor’s head and finally they reached the top. She managed to pull the last of him out of the water, and collapsed, panting on the walkway. 

‘Doctor,’ she whined, praying to the god she didn’t believe in that he’d suddenly sit up straight and tell her that somehow the shot had miraculously missed. He didn’t. She turned her head and looked at him, lying there face up, blood all over his shirt and around his mouth. His eyes were open, but they were rolled back into his skull. He was breathing badly, with each inhale some sort of desperate, whining, pathetic attempt for air, interspersed with coughs that were bringing up blood.

‘Oh God …’ she muttered, checking his hearts. She could only find one heartbeat, which was exceptionally quiet, but very fast. On top of that she swore she could feel and hear some kind of cracking from his chest. ‘Can you hear me? Doctor!?’

He didn’t reply. He  _ couldn’t  _ reply. His eyes were still rolled back in his skull, clearly struggling very badly, and failing a little more with every passing second.

* * *

_ ‘After you get to Torchwood, the Tardis will still be your home, she’ll still do all the things she does now, except she won’t fly,’  _ her daddy said.  _ ‘In the meantime, we want you to stay with Uncle Jack, and the rest of them. They’ll take care of you. Or you can take care of them. That’s actually probably how that will work.’ _

_ ‘We know this isn’t how any of us wanted it,’  _ her mummy said,  _ ‘but me and your dad decided this is how it’s gotta be. Keepin’ you safe is the most important thing. So be good, be safe, and be happy. Never forgot we love you.’ _

Her daddy nodded in agreement.  _ ‘We do. Hopefully we’ll see you soon. If not soon, then we’ll see you later. If not later, then … well, you know.’ _

_ ‘Bye, Leah,’  _ her mummy said.

_ ‘Bye,’  _ her daddy said, and smiled a final smile.  _ ‘Jarr’wi-looi bula ce’celerial-ia Leah. Gejaho, kai’afa’wi-looi’griila-gea-n.’ _

The hologram switched off, and the Tardis began to move.

‘No!’ she yelled, running to where the holograms had been, but it had no effect. A second later, the TARDIS landed with a jolt, making her fall over onto her knees. That hurt, but she was too upset to care.

She curled up into a ball, and started to cry.

A minute later, there was a knock on the door. ‘Doctor? Rose?’ Uncle Jack’s muffled voice asked. ‘You gonna come out anytime soon?’

She didn’t even bother wiping at her eyes. She just got up from her fallen position, and walked to the door. She opened it, and there was Uncle Jack.

His face fell at the sight of her so upset. ‘Leah, what’s happened?’ he asked.

She just cried.

* * *

‘Okay, just stay breathin’, I’m gonna fix this, I swear …’ Rose gabbled, desperately trying to think of how she was going to do that. She knew the emergency program had probably already taken Leah back to Torchwood, so she pulled out her phone and tried to turn it on to call them. Nothing happened - the water had killed it. 

Her desperate plan to phone Torchwood wasn't going to happen. She had no idea what setting on the sonic would help make it work again.

She needed to calm down and think rationally. There was no way she could help Theo right now, she had to concentrate on saving the Doctor. The only way she could do that was to get him to a hospital.

But if the Bar'zellis were as powerful as the Doctor and Jack had described, then they were sure to have eyes everywhere. She had to somehow get him admitted without catching anyone's attention. If the Bar’zellis looked hard enough, then they’d know. Maybe they'd even try again. They'd wanted him dead, after all.

Some sort of plan came into her head as she spied the gun she'd abandoned a few metres away. She grabbed the gun, then darted back to the Doctor. Having to peel back his blood-soaked jacket as he gasped was horrific, but she forced herself, rummaging in his inside pocket until she found the sonic and, thankfully, the psychic paper. She stuffed them all into her own pockets and grabbed him under the arms, dragging him along the walkway and then out the door back into the street.

She kissed his forehead, and then stood up straight, cupping her hands to her mouth.

'Someone help! Please help! No please, don't shoot him!’

She then fired her gun in the air. The noise level of her surroundings increased, and she bolted over to the other side of the street into an alley, hiding behind some bins.

Within thirty seconds some people arrived, and found the Doctor straight away, panicking and screaming. Two minutes later, the emergency services rolled onto the street in a blaze of screeching tyres and sirens. Ten minutes after that, the alien paramedics had the Doctor loaded into the ambulance. She could see what had to be the alien equivalent of a heart rate monitor, displaying signs of activity. One minute after that, the ambulance had left, and the police moved in.

Ten seconds after the ambulance had disappeared, Rose shoved the gun into her jacket, and walked away.

* * *

Leah had explained the market, splitting up, suddenly receiving a stream of frantic texts from her mum, the hologram, and had then shown Jack the phone.

**Leah go to tard**

**Now qucik go hide stay**

**STAY STAY STAY dont go out dont**

**well come bck just stay stay ok**

**HIDE**

Jack could barely believe the texts Rose had sent to Leah, a tiny pixelated saga of someone who was clearly in deep trouble and at the height of stress. What that trouble was, he had no idea, and neither did Leah. All they knew was that it was dangerous enough for the Doctor and Rose to send Leah back to Torchwood.

‘Did the hologram say anything about what happened, I mean, specifically?’ Martha asked the little girl, who was hugging Jack for dear life.

‘No,’ she replied, red-eyed and sniffing back tears.

‘You’ve got no idea what happened?’

‘No.’

‘Your dad didn’t mention anything before you all split up?’ Martha asked. ‘Like, maybe he thought someone might be following, or did he say anything you couldn’t hear to your mum?’

‘No,’ Leah replied, burying her head further into Jack's chest.

‘Okay,’ Jack said and looked at Gwen, who was standing nearby. ‘Can you take Leah somewhere quiet, and get her something to eat and drink?’

‘No,’ Leah said immediately, clinging onto him tighter.

‘Leah, you’re in a shock, you need to settle down,’ Martha said. ‘Me and Uncle Jack will concentrate on what’s happened to your parents and your brother, and then we’ll tell you what we’re going to do. Okay?’

Leah looked at her. ‘... Okay,’ she said eventually, and, slightly reluctantly, left with Gwen.

‘Bar’zellis,’ Jack said after a moment, still staring at the texts. ‘Has to be.’

‘Might just be one of their adventures gone wrong,’ Martha pointed out.

‘Yeah, but likelihood,’ Jack countered. ‘Maybe after all this time they finally found them.’

‘I hope not,’ Martha moaned. ‘I thought it was okay, now. I thought you said the Bar’zellis had probably given up.’

‘Maybe just a coincidence they were there,’ Jack said. 

‘Have you tried calling?’ Martha asked, nodding at the phone.

‘Yeah, says the phone’s turned off,’ Jack replied. ‘Rose never turns off her phone.’

‘What do we do?’

Jack thought seriously. ‘Okay, so we can’t call Rose and we can’t move the Tardis. What else is there?’

‘Could we call Hivernia?’ Martha asked suddenly. ‘Maybe their police? It can’t be  _ that  _ hard to find two humanoids on an alien planet.’

Jack shook his head. 'No, won't work.’

‘Okay, call the Neo Proclamation, then,’ Martha said. ‘Get them to put out some sort of missing persons thing.’

‘If they are running from the Bar’zellis, they’re probably hiding,’ Jack said. ‘We start kicking up a fuss that’ll just tell the Bar’zellis where they are.’

Martha sighed. ‘Then we can't do anything.’

‘But we've got to,’ Jack insisted.

There was a silence as they both thought. 

‘How about going there?’ Jack suggested.

‘You mean by hitchhiking?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Wait, how far away is Hivernia?’

‘Two million light years.’

Martha frowned. ‘Err, how long you think it would take to get there?’

'I dunno, if I keep moving, get lucky, and get passage on fast, direct ships ... about two months.’

'That’s way too long.’

'At least there's still a trail I could follow,’ Jack pointed out. ‘I can’t just sit here and do nothing.’

‘But we  _ are  _ doing something,’ Martha replied. ‘The Doctor and Rose have trusted us with their daughter. We’ve got a really upset and confused little girl to look after.’

‘Martha, we’ve got you, Gwen, Ianto, Mickey, and Jackie to take care of a kid whose IQ is probably more than all of us combined,’ Jack replied. ‘I don’t need to be here too. And like I said, I can’t sit here and do nothing.’

Martha nodded, resigned. ‘Okay. Do what you have to do.’

Jack packed a bag, then went to see Leah, who was trying and failing to eat a sandwich.

‘I’m going to Hivernia to see if I can find them,’ he told the girl.

‘Can I come?’ she asked.

‘No, we need you here, you’re the only Tardis pilot we have,’ Jack replied. ‘If she suddenly comes to life we need you ready to go. I’m keeping my phone with me, and I’m putting you in charge of communications. If you hear anything at all, call me, okay?’

Leah nodded. ‘Okay.’

Jack hugged her tightly. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll find them.’

‘Okay,’ Leah said again, hugging back.

After a few moments, they parted. Jack gave her a supportive grin, and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back soon!


	14. Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor wakes up with no idea what’s happened.

_ 'Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 5:52pm.' _

‘How did you get to us?’ the Doctor wondered.

'Err ... I called Zak, and got him to pick me up,' Jack said.

‘Who’s Zak?’ the Doctor wondered.

‘Your clone, in a way, The Shadow Proclamation basically created your family in clone form a while back, when they imprisoned you. Your clone and Leah’s clone are the only ones that survived a massive purge. They run the Neo Proclamation, now, a new Shadow Proclamation after the previous one fell to corruption and greed.’

'Oh,’ the Doctor said, frowning slightly. ‘So did it work?’

'Oh yeah,’ Jack said. 'But that’s not important. So what’s the next thing you remember?’

The Doctor thought. ‘I … I remember suddenly becoming aware …’

* * *

_ ‘... Like someone had just slapped me in the face.’ _

The Doctor’s eyes, although already open, seemed to shoot open even wider as he suddenly took in a deep, liberating breath, which had to quickly stop when it created quite a distinct pain in his chest. His vision and thought processes stumbled to catch up with his sudden consciousness, and he registered the fact that he was in a dingy room, sitting in a dilapidated chair by a window that was slightly open. He could hear the sounds of life outside, with people shouting, beeps, and the general hustle and bustle of a busy city on a cold winter day.

He looked around, confused. The room he was in was relatively small and slightly rotten, with some very dark and horribly-patterned wallpaper peeling and flaking in the edges and corners. In the centre of the room was a run-down bed with a single, thin blanket acting as a duvet and a cushion for the pillow, with another blanket and cushion on the floor. In the corner were a desk with a mismatched worn chair and a very tired-looking computer on top. There was an oxygen canister with a mask next to it by the desk, and there was a door leading off into what looked like a very unhygienic bathroom. On the wall above his head was a round clock that he could tell instinctively was a nanosecond too slow.

His eyebrows knitted in confusion as his head throbbed a little with a headache, and his brain slowly but steadily boosted back to full power. By the looks of the little technology in the room and the sounds outside, he was on Hivernia.

Wait. Hivernia.

He realised with a deep pang of horror what had happened. He’d been shot, left for dead. Quite how he wasn’t dead from being shot at point blank range was a mystery, but he couldn’t have been too badly hurt for him to wake up with this much clarity. Maybe the gun had only partially discharged, or didn’t have enough energy left?

Wait. There was something else. Something important.

‘Rose, Theo,’ he realised breathlessly, making to get out of the chair. Three things stopped him from managing that. One, his chest  _ bursting  _ through with pain; two, an intravenous line pulling on his skin; and three, he was actually strapped to the chair.

He looked down, wildly confused, to find he had tape wrapped around his wrists and ankles. And by the state of his wrists, he could tell this wasn’t the first time he’d been taped to this chair.

That was a little worrying, he mused, as a million unfavourable scenarios entered his head. Hold on. There was no point taping him up unless he’d been awake, so why couldn’t he remember anything?

Suddenly, there came the sound of footsteps from somewhere nearby. He tensed up a little, and tugged at his arms and legs, trying to free them. He couldn’t.

Before he could decide what to do, the door opened with a hell of a creak, and someone came in. As his eyes fixed on the person, he immediately blew out a sigh of relief.

‘Rose!’ he realised.

‘I know, I know, I’m sorry I’m late,’ she replied breathlessly, dumping some bags on the floor, sticking her head out of the door as if checking for someone following, then closing and locking it. She moved over to him, and he briefly had a chance to take her appearance in. She looked a little tired, and her blond dye had grown out quite a way. She had no makeup on, and her hair was tied up. Her clothes were slightly ripped and muddied. There was something a little world-weary about her that hadn't been there before. ‘I just got caught up with somethin’.’

She grabbed some scissors from a drawer and proceeded to cut away the tape, apologising as she ripped it off. He yelped.

‘I’ve got your favourites, those weird blue doughnut things,’ she said, moving back to the bags and pulling out a pack of what he recognised as RekRek cakes. 

He rubbed at his wrists and pointed down to his ankles which were still taped.

‘Oh, sorry,’ she said and moved back with the scissors to cut them free. 

‘Rose, where are we?’ he asked, pointing around the room.

She suddenly stopped and looked up at him. Something in her eyes seemed to die at his words. 

‘Hivernia, remember?’ she asked gently. ‘We talked about this.’

‘... When?’ he wondered, baffled.

She sighed, shaking her head and pulling off the last of the tape as he yelped again. ‘Sorry. Doesn’t matter.’

‘Rose … I’m really confused,’ he stated, getting up onto wobbly legs, trying to avoid ripping out the IV.

‘I know, but that’s fine,’ she replied, smiling at him. ‘You’ll get there eventually. You wanna put on your clothes, yet?’ 

He looked down, and abruptly realised he was only in a pair of boxers. 

‘Lemme get you some clothes, you gotta be cold,’ she said, retrieving a pair from under the bed and encouraging him to sit down again.

He didn’t follow her direction, just standing there gripping onto the side of the chair to try and stay upright.

‘C’mon, please,’ she begged. ‘You can’t risk gettin’ ill or anythin’, your lungs can’t take it. Sit down and gimme your leg.’

He stepped back, rolling the IV with him. ‘Hold on …’ he managed, just before his weak legs gave out and he fell back onto the floor. His torso thrummed with pain, and he gasped, his chest heaving.

‘Oh god, you okay?’ she asked anxiously, moving forward to kneel next to him, a hand checking each of his hearts. ‘Look, I’m sorry, I just wanted you to be warm.’

He lifted his head to look at her, panting. ‘I can’t make sense of this,’ he managed to get out.

‘I know, but I  _ promise  _ you’ll get better,’ she said.

‘No … I mean you,’ he gasped, pushing himself to sit up against the bed.

Again, that pain flashed through her eyes. ‘I’m Rose,’ she said weakly. ‘I’m … I’m your wife.’

‘I know there's marital ties and all that, but why exactly are you taping me to chairs?’

‘I told you, you keep followin’ me out and I can’t risk you out there,’ she told him slowly and gently, resting her hand on his cheek. ‘I couldn’t keep you in here any other way.’

‘You  _ really  _ didn’t tell me.’

‘Yeah, I did. Last week.’

‘I don’t remember it.’

‘Then … Wait a minute. You’re arguin’ with me,’ she suddenly said, her eyes shooting open wide. ‘What’s your name?’

‘What?’ he asked seriously.

‘What’s your name!?’ she said again, gripping his shoulders with clear-cut desperation.

‘Doctor,’ he replied, gazing at her with confusion.

‘What are the names of our kids?’

‘Leah, Alex, Theo,’ he reeled off. 

‘What’s my mum’s name?’

‘Rose, what are you …’

‘Just answer the question.’

‘Jackie.’

‘Okay, what’s … 678 billion divided by 345 million?’

‘One thousand nine hundred and sixty-five point two,’ he replied.

What’s your species and what’s your home planet?’

‘Time Lord, Gallifrey,’ he supplied.

‘What’s the first word you ever said to me?’

‘Run.’

She stopped, staring at him, utterly. ‘Oh my god. It’s really you, isn't it!?’

‘Yes …?’

She threw herself onto him for a big, loving hug, shaking from what he could only fathom was sheer relief. ‘Oh God, I nearly gave up …’

The Doctor blew away her hair from his face and obligingly hugged her back. ‘You know what, anytime you want to start explaining things, I’m all ears.’

She pulled back and kissed him briefly. ‘Okay. But not until you’ve got some bloody clothes on.’

* * *

'What’s the last thing you remember?’ Rose asked when he’d finally got some trousers on, the both of them sitting on the bed.

'Being shot, then falling,’ the Doctor replied. 'After that, nothing until I woke up here.’

‘Nothing?’

'No,’ he replied. 

‘God, yeah, you must be really confused.’

‘Just a tad,’ he replied. ‘You’d better start from the beginning.’

‘It all … happened so fast,’ she told him. ‘One minute I was standin’ there, the next he’d shot you, then ... pushed you over the side. After that, he opened the floodgate. The place where you were lyin’ started fillin’ up with water. Then … he looked at me, said, “sorry for your loss”, and activated a transmat. They … they took Theo with ‘em.’

‘Theo’s gone?’ he asked weakly.

She nodded. ‘By the time I’d managed to get through the access gate and drag you out of the water you weren’t breathin’. Your … your chest was a mess, there was … a lot of blood.’

Her eyes moved to his bare chest, which bore a couple of light but very precise scars to denote incisions for surgery.

‘But you saved me?’ he supposed.

‘Yeah,’ she said, wiping at her nose before forcing a smile. ‘I thought I was gonna break down, but I just went into this zone, in my head. I knew that I couldn’t do anythin’ about Theo, the only thing I could do was to get you to a hospital. I figured that the Bar’zellis might know somethin’ was up if a gallifreyan was admitted to hospital by a human, so I took your sonic and psychic paper and ran. I drew some attention to the boathouse, and someone else found you and called the ambulance.’

‘Good thinking,’ he commended. ‘Where did you go?’

‘I couldn’t call anyone, my phone was bricked, and I didn’t know what settin’ to use on the sonic to dry it out, I was scared of blowin’ it up. I found a hotel and used your psychic paper to stay while visitin’ the hospital every day, tryin’ to get updates. The hospital didn't know anythin' about you - not even your species. The doctors working on you kept sayin’ it was touch and go,’ she said. ‘Just after that, translation circuit broke down so I couldn’t talk to anyone. I knew you were still alive though; I think you were in a healin’ coma. Then after that, the hotel kicked me out.’

‘Then where did you go?’

‘Just kinda slept rough for a bit,’ she said. ‘Actually, I managed to get a few nights in the library before I got kicked out of there, too. I managed to find this English to Unixian phrasebook.’

‘You learnt some?’

‘Chan-tor nish takashin.’

‘Nice to meet you too,’ the Doctor replied.

She smiled weakly. ‘One day I got into the hospital, and I managed to see you for five minutes. You were awake, but … well, I couldn't really figure out what the doctors were saying, but it was obvious that you had some kinda brain damage. It was like you were catatonic. You weren't reacting to anythin’. You just kinda sat there, starin’ at nothin’.’

‘Probably lack of oxygen to my brain knocked me out of kilter for a while,’ the Doctor reasoned.

'Yeah. A bit after that, the translation circuit came back a little, and I realised that physically you were healing really well, but they didn't know what to do with you cos of the brain damage and the fact they had no idea who you were. They kept sayin’ “psychiatric ward” and “Embassy”. I knew if that happened I'd lose you and the Bar'zellis might be able to trace you. So I decided I was gonna steal you and keep us hidden until you got better.

‘I knew that you couldn't be on the street, so I looked all night and found this place, abandoned,’ she said, gesturing around the room. 'I got what I could from the market with the psychic paper, smartened myself up and went to the hospital. Managed to hold my nerve, tell them I was a representative of the Embassy and we'd found your family. I think they were pretty glad to get rid of you. They gave me some meds and told me I’d need more from somewhere else. Then we just left onto the street. I didn't really think it through, though.’

'Well, looks like it worked out anyway,’ he pointed out.

'It really didn't. I didn't think how I was gonna get you halfway across town while you were in that state. No one would give us a lift, so we had to walk. We got there, but God. That was the coldest night I've known, I swear. I tried so hard to keep you warm, but you caught some kinda cold. For the next few days, you got really really bad cos your lungs were so damaged. You couldn't breathe. I ran out of medication. I had to go back to the hospital and steal some stuff - medications and an oxygen canister.’

‘You stole them?’ the Doctor asked.

She nodded. ‘I tried askin’ nicely, but they refused. So I snuck in there and swiped it. Got it all back to you. After a few days, you were gettin’ more alert. You were still pretty unresponsive for a while, but then you started getting some words out. For a few days I thought you were starting to recognise me, but you didn’t. Then you got really clingy. You kept cryin’ when I went out to get supplies. Then one day I went out to steal some food, and you followed me. We nearly both got caught. That’s when I started tapin’ you to the chair cos you just kept breakin’ the lock and followin’ me out.’

‘Oh,’ the Doctor muttered, running his hand through his hair. His fingers hit a bump, like a scar, at the side. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘C’mon, wasn’t your fault,’ she told him. ‘Anyway, it’s not been  _ that  _ hard because until five minutes ago you agreed with everythin’ I told you. The rest has just been about keepin’ you clean and fed, and I’ve been talkin’ to you constantly. Your speech kept gettin’ better, and the translation circuit came back, so I knew you’d get better sometime. It just seemed to be taking forever.’

‘This is …’ he trailed off, struggling to sum up the conflict of emotions he was feeling. ‘I’m really,  _ really  _ sorry,’ he eventually said. ‘But thank you.’

‘I don’t even know if you need the IV anymore,’ she confessed. ‘But I didn’t wanna take it out, just in case. I also got your medical file if you wanna take a look.’

He nodded. She moved to the desk and retrieved it, handing it to him.

**_Name:_ ** _ Unknown (John Doe) _

**_Age:_ ** _ Unknown (humanoid age approximation 20-40) _

**_Species:_ ** _ Unknown (examination deemed advanced humanoid physicalities) _

**_Medical History:_ ** _ Unknown _

**_Assessment:_ ** _ Patient was discovered in a boathouse on the outskirts of the Market District, not breathing, but with a pulse. Patient was admitted to hospital and possessions checked but did not possess any form of identification. Patient was then scanned to establish species. It was concluded the patient was an advanced humanoid species, with a second heart and a binary vascular system, among others (see footnotes). After further examination, it was concluded that the patient had received severe blunt chest trauma (most likely to be from a stun gun) to the chest cavity, and multiple injuries deemed to be not usual of humanoid biological structural norms. Police were informed of a potential attempted murder, and staff secured a consultant with exceptional expertise on humanoid biology. _

_ Injuries included (but not limited to): Broken and fractured ribs and sternum with flail chest, pulmonary contusions, hemopneumothorax, skull and arm fractures, traumatic aortic rupture, myocardial contusion, traumatic pericardial rupture, and hemopericardium leading to cardiac tamponade and cardiogenic shock. Second heart was not functioning, and the first heart was weak and tachycardic. _

**_Treatment and progression:_ ** _ Patient was intubated and monitored extremely closely. Patient underwent multiple successful surgeries and displayed incredible self-healing abilities, including a deepset healing coma as seen in various pikou sector species. Second heart resumed a steady rhythm in accordance with the first heart. A two-week scan revealed bone, arteries, and organs were rapidly renewing to normal structure and function. _

_ Upon waking, it was established that the patient had severe brain injuries (deemed to be from brain hypoxia) and could not perform normal physical functions or communicate any events such as family, personal history, or name. Once the humanoid biology consultant was satisfied with the progress of physical healing, the patient was discharged and taken away by an Embassy representative. _

**_Prognosis:_ ** _ The humanoid biology consultant believes that with the advanced healing capabilities displayed so far, there is a positive outlook regarding physical and mental wellbeing, but the patient will likely retain some degree of breathing issues. _

Just reading about it made the Doctor’s chest hurt a little more. ‘Wow,’ he muttered, rubbing the spot he’d been shot. He checked the IV he was attached to. ‘Okay, just a mild analgesic,’ he said, pulling the IV out of his arm. Then he stopped, frowning. ‘Wait. How  _ long  _ has it been since I was shot?’

Rose hesitated, distinctly uncomfortable with what she was about to tell him. ‘Err … well, you were in hospital for five weeks, and you’ve been with me for three.’

‘Two months,’ the Doctor realised, horrified. ‘You mean Theo got taken  _ two months  _ ago?’

She nodded.

His blood boiled at the fact that these people had had his son for that long. ‘Have you heard anything at all?’

She shook her head.

‘Have you still got your phone and the sonic?’

She nodded, digging into her pockets and pulling them out.

He adjusted the sonic setting to sorting out water in electronics and ran it down the phone. He then turned it on, and it sprung into life.

**450 missed calls**

The Doctor checked which numbers were calling. It was a mixture of Torchwood mobiles. He was about to call one, when he hesitated.

‘What?’ Rose asked.

‘The Bar’zellis are going to notice a call to Earth, that’s too obvious,’ he realised, and turned the phone back off again. ‘I can’t risk linking them. No, we’re on our own.’

‘What do we do?’

‘Find some way to get to Sirrus without the Tardis,’ the Doctor replied. ‘The old  Va'A'gnorn territory should be open now; we should be able to contact someone there and then get ourselves across the sea into Bar’zelli territory, and start tracing Theo.’

She nodded.

‘Rose, I need you to go to the docks, they’re a half a mile that way,’ he said, pointing in the general direction. ‘Get a list of every single outbound spaceship over the next three days. Meanwhile, I’ll see what I can find out about Theo,’ he said, nodding at the computer.

She nodded again. ‘Okay.’

* * *

By 8 o’clock that night, the Doctor had thought up a plan, and Rose was back. She’d stolen some clothes from a nearby shop. She emptied the bag on the bed, where a load of shirts, jackets, underwear, socks, shoes, and trousers dropped out still with their tags on.

‘I shoved everythin’ I could in there,’ she told him. ‘Don’t know what I managed to get but hopefully some things will fit us.’

‘When did you start stealing things?’ he asked, rummaging through the clothes.

‘About the time everyone stopped believin’ the psychic paper,’ she replied. ‘Did you find out anythin’?’

He looked at her briefly. ‘Yes,’ he said eventually. ‘There wasn’t much, but there’s some mention of an auction on Sirrus that could have been him taking place about a month ago. No mention of a buyer.’

‘So we go to Sirrus?’

‘Yeah,’ he affirmed. ‘Did you get the timetable?’

She pulled it out of her pocket and gave it to him. He scanned it, and smiled.

‘Good?’ she supposed.

‘Very good,’ he confirmed. ‘Let’s eat and sleep. We leave at eleven tomorrow.’

* * *

Two hours later, and they were in bed. Rose was asleep and the Doctor was holding her, staring at the cracked ceiling. He was really struggling to not completely lose it, because he could feel an incredibly dark and ominous cloud creeping at the very edges of his judgement, threatening to take over.

They’d just taken his son. Snatched him away. They’d also left him severely brain damaged for eight weeks and his wife on her own on a strange planet, forcing her to embark on a life of crime just to survive.

He’d done a very good job of hiding it from Rose, but he hadn’t felt this angry for a seriously long time. He  _ really  _ wanted to hurt them for what they’d done. It would be so easy to get the Bar’zelli territory, pick up a gun and kill every last one of them. It wasn’t like he hadn’t done that at least a hundred times during the War.

But he couldn’t, could he? He’d spent the time since Rose had killed her brother telling her not to give in to that little voice. He told her to fight it. To oust it. The very voice that he could hear now, shouting smally and incessantly:

_ Hurt them. _

Next to him, Rose descended into a nightmare. He turned over, and delved inside her head.

It became immediately apparent from the dreamscape in front of him that the time she’d spent suffering through this torment on her own had obviously destroyed her psyche to a horrible degree. The place was even more volatile than before, with limbs strewn out across her dream world for as far as the eye could see and the entire place pulsing and throbbing like a terrible, terrible headache. She was sitting there cross-legged in the middle of the blood and flesh, staring at nothing.

He made his way through the scattered corpses, reaching her.

‘Rose,’ he said, kneeling beside her.

‘You’re gone,’ she said without a hint of emotion in her voice. ‘They destroyed you.’

‘No, they didn’t,’ he replied, and dropped to sit cross-legged in front of her. ‘I’m here.’

‘They took all your powers away,’ she said, seemingly staring right through him.

‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘They took nothing away. Actually, they added. And do you know what they added?’

Finally, she seemed to register him, but still there was no emotion whatsoever. ‘What did they add?’

‘Pure rage,’ he replied, and immediately felt his insides starting to burn. A wave of sheer hatred cascaded through him in something that almost felt orgasmic.

He really did like this feeling. This was addicting. This was familiar. This was comfortable.

‘But they took Theo,’ she said, still with no hint of emotion.

‘I’m getting him back,’ he replied firmly. 'I'm not going to let them get away with this. Once I find Theo, _ I'm going to kill them.’ _

* * *

The Doctor jerked awake, gasping a little, which set off the pain in his chest. He was back in the room, and for some reason, he could smell sandalwood. As quickly as he detected it, the smell washed away again.

That last sentence hadn’t been him … had it? 

It hadn’t felt like he’d said it. 

But he must have. 

But he didn’t kill people.

He was a good person, wasn’t he?

He looked to his left at Rose. She no longer seemed to be in the nightmare. Now she was sleeping contentedly, with a smile on her face.


	15. The Chase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Rose begin their pursuit of Theo, hitching a ride to Sirrus.

The space port was alive with activity, with a menagerie of ships ranging from tourist ships to cargo ships coming and going every thirty seconds in a whir of engines and screeches. There were plenty of people around; passengers, captains, and crewmen alike, chatting and laughing and occasionally arguing together.

The Doctor and Rose walked to the gate, brimming with determination. The plan was simple. They’d sweet talk their way in, find the captain, and bargain for passage using any means necessary. They were both now in character - she was a Lady of the Realm on Matabullus Six, and he was her personal bodyguard.

They’d managed to throw together a couple of outfits, with Rose in a leather jacket and jeans, and the Doctor clad in black skinny jeans, a pressed shirt and black jacket. He’d also picked up a few props on the way to suit his new fake identity - a futuristic-looking sword on a scabbard on his back and a little fake gun prop in a holster at his side.

The Doctor led the charge, walking straight up to the gatekeeper and pulling out the psychic paper. 'We’re here for departure BX597,’ he said with a winning smile, waving the psychic paper briefly under her nose before pocketing it again.

The gatekeeper checked her notes. ‘What are your names?’

'I'm John, and this is Lady Rose,’ the Doctor replied confidently.

The gatekeeper scoured her documents some more, frowning. 'I’m sorry, that ship seems to already have its full complement.’

'That can't be right, we were booked into this trip, can you check again?’ Rose asked.

The gatekeeper did. ‘I'm sorry, I can't see your names anywhere.’

‘Well that's strange, Captain Derrm herself asked for us, we know her very well,’ Rose insisted.

‘I'm sorry, you just don't seem to be on here.’

The Doctor clicked his fingers, as if just remembering something. ‘Oh, I know, she only confirmed our passage this morning, we’re probably not on the list yet. Whereabouts is she?’

‘I can’t allow the ..’

‘Through here, yes?’ the Doctor asked, and walked straight through the gate and into the dock before the gatekeeper could protest, with Rose following.

‘Let me do the talking,’ the Doctor said. Rose nodded. They walked into the main hub of the port, where the main activity was. The Doctor went straight to docking bay eight, where departure BX597 was preparing to leave. There were some people on the platform, about to board. 

The Doctor went straight up to a particular alien, and bowed courteously. ‘Hello, Captain Derrm!’ he said happily.

The alien woman looked at him, raising an eyebrow. ‘Err … hello?’

‘We’d really,  _ really  _ like to board your ship for passage to Matabullus Six.’

Captain Derrm shook her head. ‘I can’t …’

‘Honest, we’re no trouble,’ the Doctor insisted, still smiling as he raised his psychic paper. ‘I’m an engineer approved by the Resos Academy for Engineering Excellence. I’ll work my fingers to the bone, promise. I’m willing to provide my services for free.’

‘That's quite an offer,’ she said. ‘What engines do you specialise in?’

The Doctor subtly glanced at the ship. ‘Polarised dynamic mechanical engineering,’ he stated confidently.

The Captain looked surprised. ‘That’s exactly what my ship needs.’

‘What a coincidence!’ the Doctor said, beaming.

The Captain sighed. ‘I’m sorry, I just don’t have any room.’

‘We’re easy, we just want food and somewhere to sleep. All we want is to get to Matabullus Six.’

‘Why are you so keen to get to Matabullus Six?’ the Captain wondered.

‘Reunions,’ the Doctor replied immediately. ‘Lady Rose was abducted and ransomed. I’m her personal bodyguard - I infiltrated the syndicate and I broke her out. It’s my duty to escort her back to her family, and we have no other way of getting there. As you can understand, we need to remain undercover so her abductors can’t find her.’

‘But …’

‘She’s a Lady of the Realm,’ the Doctor continued before she could protest. ‘Her parents own the Achon territory on Matabullus Six.’

That got the reaction he wanted as the Captain clearly saw money signs in her eyes. ‘... Will I be recompensed?’ 

‘Her parents will pay anything to people who helped her safe passage,’ the Doctor assured her. 

The Captain paused, considering. ‘Okay,’ she concluded. ‘I can’t offer you much in the way of luxury, my Lady. But you’re both welcome to take up the engineer’s quarters in the engineering section if you can stand the noise. You’ll be protected there, scans can’t penetrate that area of the ship.’

‘That’s fine,’ Rose replied. 

The Captain nodded. ‘We’ll be departing in six minutes, make sure you’re on board.’

The Doctor gave a mock salute as the Captain walked away. He looked at Rose, and winked, who grinned back. He then led the way onto the ship.

* * *

They found the engineering section buried deep within the heart of the ship. It was dark, loud, and dirty, with some large engine sitting in the centre, creaking and groaning and apparently leaking. The Doctor took a quick look at a control panel.

‘Wow, this hasn’t been looked at in years!’ he shouted over the noise. ‘Three fuel injectors broken, no Calux lubricant left on the pistons, engines operating at 28 percent, none of the gal propellers are aligned, and three batteries aren’t sparking properly … At this rate it’s going to take us forever to get there!’

‘Can you fix it!?’ Rose asked.

He nodded. ‘I’ll work on it!’ he replied.

‘Does this mean they don’t have an engineer!?’ Rose wondered. ‘I thought all ships needed an engineer!?’

He shrugged. ‘Engineers are expensive! Most ships just go without them until the engine quite literally breaks down, then they’ll bother to pay for a garage to look at it, or just get a new ship! That’s cheaper a lot of the time! At least we’ll be alone down here - no one visits the engineering section unless there’s a problem!’

‘Good!’ Rose shouted.

He stood up straight and looked around, then spotted the engineer’s quarters just to their left. ‘Dread to think what state this is going to be in!’ he confessed, and led the way to the door. He opened it, and they both had a rather pleasant surprise. Although the quarters were a bit cramped, they were quite clean and tidy. There was an adjoining bathroom, something that Rose presumed was a television in front of some sofas, as well as an eating area with something that looked like it would administer food and drink.

‘I guess no one’s ever used ‘em!’ Rose supposed.

‘Nope!’ he agreed, and shut the door behind them. It did little to muffle the noises of the engine.

‘That’s so loud!’ Rose shouted.

‘Hold on!’ he said, and pulled out his sonic, adjusting the setting and running it around the door frame. Half a second later, the noise died down to acceptable levels. He threw up the sonic with a flip and caught it, before slipping it back in his pocket and grinning at her. ‘Bit of molecular adjustment,’ he explained, and dropped to sit on the single bed at the side of the room, pulling off his sword and fake gun.

She sat next to him. ‘So what’s next?’

‘I’ll work on their engines and do all the fetching and carrying, you stay off the radar,’ he said. ‘Like she said, this area is lined with a lining so external ships can’t scan the area, but they can on the upper decks. I’ll pass any scans as your basic humanoid, but you’ll catch some attention. So as long as we stay undercover, you stay down here, and we don’t draw attention to ourselves, it should be fine. If anyone asks, just say you’re a terralon. Once we’re close to Sirrus, we’ll grab an escape pod and go. Should be about a week if I can fix up the engines.’

She nodded. ‘Got it. So what is this ship, anyway?’

‘Cargo transport,’ the Doctor replied. ‘Taking the products of Hivernia’s markets across this sector.’

‘I thought it’d be busier,’ she confessed. ‘You know, more people walkin’ around. There was no one when we boarded.’

‘It’s a skeleton crew to maximise capacity for cargo,’ the Doctor replied. ‘Looking for profits, and all that. There’ll be a Captain, a pilot, possibly someone in inventory, and someone to operate the cargo arm. That’s it.’

_ ‘All passengers please prepare for launch!’  _ a voice came through some tannoy. 

‘Hold onto something that seems sturdy,’ the Doctor advised. She held onto him, just as the ship juddered, and the sound of the engine increased. Rose looked out of the window and watched, mesmerised, as they lifted off. Within the space of five seconds, the ground disappeared, they pushed through the clouds, and then hit space.

‘Wow,’ she muttered.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘Weird thing, but I’ve never launched into space before,’ she replied. ‘Not like this, anyway.’

‘I suppose you haven’t,’ he realised, and for a moment, they both just stared out of the window at the magnificent sight of planets, moons, nebulas, suns, pulsars, scattered across the seemingly infinite void, highlighted by clusters of stars, forming an absolutely beautiful canvas.

Once the ship seemed more stable, the Doctor got up and moved to the window. Rose followed him, gazing out.

‘See that little light, at the bottom of that cluster?’ he asked, pointing. ‘Just under that green nebula?’

She searched briefly. ‘Err … oh! Yeah?’

‘That’s Sirrus,’ he replied. 

Another pause. He looked at her. She didn’t seem to have any sort of emotional reaction on her face, apart from - maybe - a slight fleck of anger. Whatever it was disappeared as quickly as it had come.

* * *

They travelled on the ship, staying below decks and avoiding any of the crew. It was hot, loud, and stuffy, and playing havoc with the Doctor’s still healing lungs, but they managed, working together on the engines with Rose fetching and carrying and performing a few minor fixes at the Doctor’s direction as he busied himself with the more complex inner components. After a lot of hard work, diagnostics revealed that all of the fuel injectors were working again, the pistons were firing properly, five out of six of the gal propellers were back in alignment, two of the three broken batteries were back to normal, the leak was fixed, and the engines had improved to 87 percent function.

The only communication with the upper decks had been the captain on the intercom once, expressing her delight at the improvements and thanking the Doctor. Otherwise, they’d been left alone to their own devices. 

As Sirrus drew nearer, the days seemed to grow longer, until finally they reached the end of the sixth day. They stopped work for the evening, and, as usual, the Doctor jumped into the shower to try and get rid of the grime he’d accumulated over the course of the day as Rose browsed their rather limited choice of meals from the replicator, and eventually decided on some strange amalgam of meat with some anaemic-looking vegetables.

They ate together with the alien version of a television on, showing some gameshow.

‘So what happens now?’ Rose asked as they ate.

‘We should be in the closest proximity to Sirrus at around 3:30am tonight. Hopefully the rest of the crew will be asleep. According to the schematics, we’ll need to go up a deck to get to the escape pods. I’ll have to do a bit of rewiring so they can’t tell an escape pod’s been launched, so by the time they wake up we’ll have been long gone. We’ll need to be quick and quiet. Should only be about three hours until we land in the old Va'A'gnorn territory, then we’ll take it from there.’

‘Okay,’ she said, nodding. ‘Where do you think Theo is?’

‘No idea. Either he’s still with the Bar’zellis or he was sold at that auction. He might have been taken off world since. We’ll just have to find the trail and follow it as far as we can.’

‘What the hell do people buy these rare species for, anyway? I mean, what do they get out of it?’ she asked.

‘A gallifreyan, doesn’t even have to be a Time Lord gallifreyan, is very unique,’ he said. ‘Not only are we now virtually extinct and therefore a great showpiece in someone’s museum, we’re also a hugely advanced humanoid species. There are a few time sensitive species out there, but we’re kind of …’

‘Special?’ she proposed, grinning a little.

‘Well, yes.’

‘Don’t look  _ too  _ full of yourself,’ she joked.

He smiled. ‘We can also retain huge amounts of information, and because Theo’s got prydonian blood through me, he’ll be able to speak every language he encounters. Maybe someone wants to shape and mould Theo into their own personal universal Google and Google translate, implant their ideas into him and make him subject to their terms. And, I suppose having a gallifreyan on your side is a bit of a statement, too. There are whole civilisations that will do exactly what you want if they know you’re friends with, or have been able to capture a gallifreyan. Especially one related to me.’

‘So they won’t hurt him?’

‘I don’t see why. I can’t conceive of why they might. There’s no profit in hurting him. He’s extremely valuable, and they’ll know he’s very, very young for a gallifreyan so he needs to be cared for until his maturity. Hurting him won’t help them in any way at all. He’s too young for me to know through the bond if he’s hurt, but I’m confident he’s being treated really well. The danger will be when  _ we  _ get there.’

She nodded soundlessly.

‘Hey,’ he said, getting up and moving around the table to kneel in front of her. ‘As far as I can deduce, he’s safe and well. We’ll find him, he’ll probably be a bit shaken and confused, but we’ll get him home and do whatever we have to do to make things right. Okay?’

She didn’t answer.

‘Okay?’ he persisted.

‘Yeah.’

‘Good, let’s –’ he started to say, but was interrupted by a kiss, her hands cupping his face. When she pulled back, her eyes were shining.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘I ... thought I’d lost you for a while,’ she murmured. ‘There were a couple of nights where I thought I’d be stuck on that planet with you like that until I died. Then I started gettin’ worried about who’d look after you after I was gone.’

‘Didn’t happen,’ the Doctor reminded her. ‘Here I am, mostly intact, and getting better. I’m so,  _ so  _ sorry you went through that, but I’m back now. So let’s focus on the future. Getting Theo home.’

She nodded and kissed him again, and reached down to unbutton his shirt.

‘Wait,’ the Doctor said, pulling away slightly. ‘We can’t, you’ll …’

‘Shut up,’ she hissed, and pushed him onto the floor. She then straddled him, effectively pinning him down.

'But …' he tried.

She clamped a hand over his mouth as she gazed down at him, her eyes seemingly almost glowing. 'I said … shut up.'

* * *

At 3:21am, the Doctor collected his clothes from where they were strewn on the floor and woke Rose up.

‘It’s time,’ he said simply.

She nodded. They both got dressed, and for the first time for a week, they stepped out of the engineering section into a grimy corridor. The Doctor led the way, taking them up the service steps into a much cleaner area. They moved to the end of the corridor where the escape pods were lined up, accessible by hatches.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic, and used it on the panel. Something bleeped, and the door hissed open. On his gesture, she stepped through into a cramped pod, which had a pilot seat, some limited controls, a front window, and some cupboards overhead.

‘Budge up,’ the Doctor said, slipping into the pod next to her. He closed the door, and tapped at the controls for a moment. A screen burst into life.

**LAUNCH SEQUENCE INITIATED ...**

**ROUTE CALIBRATED TO NEAREST PLANET ...**

**ESTIMATED TIME TILL LANDING: THREE HOURS. CONFIRM GUIDED PATH Y/N?**

Some strange ethereal noise began to play.

‘What’s that?’ Rose asked.

‘Mood music. This is an escape pod, after all. Supposed to calm you down if your ship’s exploding,’ the Doctor replied, still tapping at the controls.

**CONFIRMED.**

The sound of engines rumbled into being. Rose watched as some doors opened up in front of them, parting to reveal space.

They started to rise, and finally they were on the move. They cleared the doors, and after a moment the Doctor stopped fiddling with the controls and looked up through the window, his jaw set.

‘Hold on, Theo, we’re coming,’ he muttered.


	16. King Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Rose land on Sirrus, and discover the mess they caused the planet to descend into.

The escape pod continued, uninterrupted, for two-and-a-half hours. There were absolutely no signs that the cargo ship was in pursuit. Either they hadn’t yet noticed, or they weren’t bothering to follow them. 

They spent the time locked in an observation-based discussion, talking about the stars and planets and all sorts of space phenomena passing them by. As they neared Sirrus, the Doctor started tapping buttons again.

‘There’ll be a jolt as we enter the atmosphere,’ he warned her. ‘Belts on.’

She obliged, securing herself with her belt, as did he. A few seconds later, as promised, the pod gave an almighty  _ clunk! _ and threw them both forward with a bone-juddering jolt. Almost immediately the control panel started to beep incessantly as they punched through the clouds, and the ground became visible, which was becoming bigger at an extremely unsettling rate. The Doctor checked it.

‘Pod couldn’t take the entry,’ he said quickly, tapping at the controls to absolutely no effect. ‘Oxygen system’s failing. Outer hull’s punctured - we’re losing air.’

‘How long till we run out?’

‘Ten seconds.’

‘And how long till we land?’

‘Forty seconds. Hold your breath.’

They both simultaneously gasped in air as the oxygen completely depleted. They gripped onto anything they could find for support, including each other, as the escape pod continued to hurtle downwards with the ground getting closer and closer …

The Doctor frenziedly started working the controls again, and immediately there was another massive jolt that nearly blew the air out of their lungs. They finally started to slow down, managing to reduce their speed ...

They landed messily, the pod skidding and skittering across the grass. The Doctor didn’t wait for it to come to a rest - he got his belt off and threw the door open as quickly as he could, practically falling out onto the ground when finally the pod stopped. Rose stumbled out after him, gratefully taking in some oxygen as the Doctor promptly launched into a coughing fit, curled up on the grass.

‘I can’t … breathe,’ he gasped out, heaving strained breaths with a hand on his chest, rolling languidly onto his back. He raised a shaky hand and pointed to the escape pod. ‘Medical … kit … oxygen …’

‘Hold on!’ she said quickly, and ran back inside the pod, throwing open the cupboards and rummaging around until she found a slim silver case with a green moon on the side. She grabbed it and went back to him, practically breaking it open to reveal a host of futuristic medical supplies as he struggled onto his knees, still coughing.

‘There …’ he panted, pointing at a black, plastic-like mask with some strange attachments. She pulled it out and pressed it to his face as he scrambled to turn the mask on, and began to take deep, whining breaths, still coughing. 

She stayed with him, holding the mask firmly in position with her other arm wrapped around his shoulders for support, letting him drop his head onto her chest. They stayed like that for two minutes, until finally he straightened up and pulled the mask off, dropping it on the ground.

‘My lungs are wrecked,’ he moaned, his hand on his chest.

‘It’s gonna take long than nine weeks to recover, yeah?’’ she told him seriously.

‘Boring,’ the Doctor muttered, and pushed himself to his feet, looking around at where they'd landed. It was a grassy field, stretching out in all directions, with a forest on one edge and some sort of village on the other in a picturesque view that wouldn't look out of place in the National Gallery. 

‘Where are we?’ Rose asked.

‘No idea,’ the Doctor confessed, ‘but I guess we start finding out at that village.’

She nodded, scooping up the oxygen mask. ‘Better keep this.’

He nodded, taking the mask. ‘Actually, better get some things out that medical kit too, left mine in my coat pocket in the Tardis.’

She nodded again and picked up the kit, holding it to him. He picked out a few essentials, and shoved them into his pockets until they were bulging.

‘I miss my dimensionally transcendental pockets,’ the Doctor mused.

‘Lemme take some,’ she said, dropping the kit and helping herself. Once they were evened out, they headed across the field.

* * *

They reached the village. No one was around, but there seemed to be some noise coming from a church at the end of the road. Otherwise, it all seemed very calm and peaceful.

‘This is nothin’ like last time,’ Rose said as they walked, observing pretty cottages on either side of the track. ‘How long has it been here since we destroyed the Va'A'gnorn regime?’

The Doctor clicked his tongue in contemplation. ‘In relative terms, around thirty years.’

They reached the church, where everyone seemed to be. The door was ajar, so they peeked inside. It seemed to be some sort of meeting, with people on pews looking at someone standing behind an altar, talking.

‘... These tapes have been reviewed by the council and we have deemed that they are irrefutable proof that he is guilty of all accusations.’

The crowd all jeered.

‘What’s goin’ on?’ Rose wondered.

‘We therefore lay down the law as established twenty-nine years ago, and sentence him to death.’

The crowd all applauded.

The Doctor and Rose looked at each other.

‘He will be taken to the Whispering Tree to be hanged, at noon tomorrow, serving an example of how we in this village tolerate his kind.’

The Doctor had had enough. He stepped through the door. ‘Hold on!’ 

Everyone turned to look at him. 

‘Who are you!?’ the man at the desk demanded to know angrily.

‘No, the more important question is, why are you commissioning murder?’ the Doctor asked.

‘I don’t believe that’s any of your business, stranger,’ the man at the desk spat.

‘It’s another spy coming to save his friend!’ someone from the crowd yelled.

‘My name’s the Doctor,’ the Time Lord stated before that idea could escalate and sweep the crowd into some blind, frenzied witch hunt.

Several people gasped. ‘The Doctor!’ came his name back to him in waves. They knew him. Good. That’d make this easier.

‘Right, now we’ve established that, can someone please tell me what exactly is going on?’ the Doctor wondered. 

He was slightly startled when suddenly a lot of people threw themselves to their knees before him, including the man behind the desk.

‘Forgive me, your Majesty!’ the man shouted desperately, his head lowered. ‘I didn’t recognise you without your regalia!’

The Doctor really was stumped by that one. ‘Err … My what?’

‘Um, Doctor,’ Rose said, nudging him. He followed her pointing finger to a portrait hanging on the wall behind them. It was a fairly accurate painting of himself, looking brave and heroic, dressed in some golden cloak with a crown and a sceptre and a halo of light behind his head.

‘... Okay,’ the Doctor muttered and turned back to the crowd. ‘Err … what exactly do you think I am?’

The man looked confused. ‘Is this a test, your Majesty?’

‘Yeah,’ Rose said, nodding. ‘Big test. End-of-year kinda test.’

‘You’re the King and half-God, the Doctor,’ the man replied. ‘You used the powers of your father, Kronos, to smite the Va'A'gnorns to punish their sins.’

There were so many things wrong with that sentence the Doctor didn’t even know where to start. ‘What?’ he asked, bewildered. ‘I’m not …’

Rose subtly stamped lightly on his foot to shut him up. ‘Yes, this is the King,’ she announced to the crowd.

The crowd cheered.

‘Okay, just … hold on, one second,’ the Doctor said, raising his hands. He pointed at the man at the desk. The man flinched, as though he’d been anticipating being struck by lightning out of the Doctor’s finger. ‘Relax. What’s your name?’

‘My name is Kriish, Your Majesty,’ the man replied.

‘Right, Kriish. Don't suppose you want to fill me in about what’s been going on?’ the Doctor wondered. ‘I’ve been a bit um, busy.’

‘What does Your Majesty wish to know?’

‘Everything that’s happened in the past thirty years. And please stop kneeling,’ the Doctor said to them all seriously. ‘I really don’t like it.’

* * *

_ 'Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 6:21pm.' _

Jack was laughing. ‘Wait, they thought you were a King and a God?’

‘Yep,’ the Doctor muttered, slightly embarrassed. ‘There was a Holy Book of the Doctor and everything.’

‘I can’t wait to hear this bit.’

‘It is written that the son of Kronos came to Sirrus from the Heavens, enraged by the injustice against the poor and needy,’ the Doctor said, recalling what the priest had said word-for-word. ‘He allowed himself to be captured and enslaved by the Va'A'gnorn family, suffering as the innocents had so that he might understand mortal pain.’

‘You’re not kidding,’ Jack realised.

‘He then freed the slaves of the Va'A'gnorns, leading them to safety. He immersed himself in the Holy Waters, so he might be rid of his mortal body and restore his Godhood. He returned to the slaves, and healed their wounds with the air from his lungs. He understood the true evil nature of the Va'A'gnorns, and called upon his fellow god, the Immortal, to help him defeat the devil inside them.’’

‘That’ll be me,’ Jack supposed.

‘He smote each of the Va'A'gnorn family for their crimes. Pargeont Va'A'gnorn tried to trick the Doctor, but the Doctor reached back through time itself and summoned all of the bullets fired by those who are in Hell, and killed him. The Doctor then saw the evil which covered the land, and knew there was now good to be done. He took his rightful place as the once and future King. After the Va'A'gnorns lay dead, he turned to his disciples and spake. “Let it be spread around the people that to be honourable in all measures, you must follow my teachings. One, you shall never been cruel to others. Two, you should banish all evil from your hearts, and strike those down that possess it. And three, let it be known that the holy words of cleansing are allons-y. And with these teachings in your heart, you may go forward and spread my word to bring good to the hearts of the people”.’

'Wow,’ Jack muttered, clearly at a loss for words.

‘Apparently from the moment we left last time, four things happened. One, all of the allies of the Va'A'gnorns upped and left to the other continents as fast as possible. Two, everyone who'd been in the underground across the continent were able to come back up to the surface and repopulate all the old villages. Three, every other continent-owning regime across Sirrus realised Jurasia was now up for grabs, and they started fighting over it. Four, everyone started thinking I was sitting on a throne somewhere.’

‘They’d basically made it up that you were King?’

'I don't think  _ they  _ did,’ the Doctor confessed. 'They were all very young people, there were no older ones. Something like this takes time to grow. They couldn't have.’

'What had happened to the older ones?’

'Some sort of King’s Tax was restricting the amount of food they could have as stock. They'd had to prioritise the young and let the older people die of starvation. It was just normal for them.’

‘You run a bad kingdom, Doc,’ Jack said.

‘Well, as we figured out, someone else was running it …’

* * *

_ ‘... Pretending to be me.’ _

‘I’m really not comfortable with this,’ the Doctor muttered after the priest left them in the anteroom, and a few hymns about him started up outside the door.

‘How have they got it so wrong?’ Rose asked seriously. ‘I mean … they’ve created this entire mythology around you in - what did you say? -  _ thirty _ years?’

‘These people are being threatened on all sides by the other territories, they're all young, desperate, scared, and extremely easy to lead. Someone must be capitalising on that.’

‘You mean someone's pretending to be you?’

‘Well, if I'm not charging extortionate taxes and sitting on a throne somewhere eating grapes, then who is? Because it's pretty much impossible for them to get that portrait of me on the wall without someone telling them who to paint and what I look like.’

‘The Bar'zellis?’ Rose asked. ‘They know what you look like. Maybe it's their money-makin’ scheme. Pretend you’re King, charge money, make an easy profit.’

‘Sounds exactly like them. Plus, it’s a very easy way for them to know I’ve arrived. It’s not going to take long for what’s happened here to get to whoever’s in charge.’

‘So, basically all these people have got to give ‘em hope is a made up story about you,’ Rose said. ‘That’s why it’s all been so quick. They’re all desperate for hope. They think you’re gonna save ‘em.’

‘Yep,’ the Doctor replied, and sighed. ‘This is all my fault.’

‘You can’t blame yourself for somethin’ they think you are,’ she pointed out.

‘No … Last time we were here, we really messed things up. I told you before it all happened that in the original history, the Va'A'gnorns wouldn’t lose power over this continent for two thousand years. Then we helped to end it prematurely. We basically created a large target in the middle of Sirrus for eight other continents and regimes to try and take over. Unless we dismantle every one of them, this continent is just another claim to land.’

‘We didn’t have a choice.’

‘Yes, we did,’ the Doctor countered. ‘Once we got the cure we needed, I could have left.’

‘That wasn’t your decision,’ Rose reminded him. ‘That was me. I was the one who was conscious in your body when that choice had to be made. I decided to go to the mansion and confront him.’

‘I didn’t exactly stop you, but either way, it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference,’ the Doctor supposed, sighing. ‘We’re still left with one very large territory that’s just waiting to be invaded in what’s probably going to be an extremely bloody set of wars, while someone is killing the population on the inside with this tax.’

‘Look, we came here for only one thing,’ Rose reminded him. ‘We do that. Forget the rest.’

He looked at her, a little confused. ‘Forget about these people?’

‘Sometimes you just gotta let things happen,’ Rose told him firmly. ‘We came here for Theo. That’s it. We get him, then we go. Leave ‘em to fight their own little wars.’

The Doctor continued to stare at her. ‘But … these people will die.’

Rose rolled her eyes. ‘Listen to yourself. You just said unless we dealt with the other eight continents then this place will never be peaceful. Sirrus is rotten to the core. Are you honestly plannin’ on making your way across the planet dismantlin’ every single rulin’ family? We get Theo and we go. The rest - leave ‘em.’

* * *

_ 'Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 6:31pm.' _

‘How did you feel about that?’ Jack wondered.

‘About what?’

‘What she said?’

‘Why are you asking?’ the Doctor asked.

‘Just curious,’ Jack insisted innocently. ‘At that point, how did you feel about it?’

‘Not sure. I guess … Well, our son was gone, we only had it on faith and feeling that Leah was safe, and Rose had spent a long time on her own waiting for me to “wake up”, trying to survive, and keeping me alive, and being hit by her nightmares constantly. She was probably just hardened more than I was used to. She just seemed a bit … Well, I suppose … she was scaring me a bit.’

‘How so?’

‘Because it wasn’t really like her. But as I said, she’d been through a lot. And as much as I didn’t like it, she had a point. To fix Sirrus, we’d have to do a massive world tour and overthrow every single one of the tyrannical leaders. But it was just the focus she had … She wasn’t conflicted. She seemed perfectly happy to let people die. There wasn’t any sort of moral debate in her. I thought she’d at least … care.’

‘What did you say to her?’

‘I said …’

* * *

_ ‘... No.’ _

‘No?’ Rose echoed, her expression turning slightly.

‘Wait,’ he said, hand in the air. ‘I think you’re right. The Bar’zellis are using this place as an income. Whoever’s pretending to be me  _ must  _ have something to do with the Bar’zellis. We need to go to whoever’s running the place, then that’s how we get to Theo quicker. Right now, we’ve still got the advantage of surprise. In a few days, we won’t have that anymore as the word spreads I’ve been seen among the people. At this rate, by the time we get to the Bar’zelli territory they’ll be ready for us, and that’s not helpful.’

‘But … what if it’s not the Bar’zellis runnin’ it?’ she pointed out, seemingly a little annoyed. ‘It’ll be a total waste of time.’

‘No, it won’t,’ the Doctor said. ‘We’ll still be a surprise when we turn up. For now, Theo is safe. The longer we can stay undercover, the safer he is.’

There was a pause as she thought about it. ‘... Okay,’ she said eventually. ‘Let’s do it.’


	17. Inception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor realises there are more to events than he understands.

_ 'Temperature 15 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 6:37pm.' _

‘Where were you at this point?’ the Doctor wondered. 

'Doesn't matter about me,' Jack said immediately. 

'Just it's been ten weeks, you had to be close.'

'Doctor, we'll run out of time if we sidetrack.'

'You were on Hivernia, though?'

'... Fine, yes,' Jack replied. ‘I’d just docked at the station. I got chatting with one of the hands, who told me that there’d been a couple of humanoids causing trouble and the captain had lost an escape pod. I got a bit more information and some descriptions, and knew it had to be you, and the only place you could be heading on a flight like that was Sirrus. So I managed to charm my way on a flight to the old Va'A'gnorn territory on Sirrus. What happened next?’

‘Well, while me and Rose were trying to figure out how we could get to my apparent palace, they threw a feast in my honour,’ the Doctor said. ‘I told them not to, but they seemed to be prepared to waste all their food stocks on it …’

* * *

_ ‘... And I couldn’t convince them otherwise.’ _

Everyone was locked in conversation around a large table in the village hall, adorned with food and drink. The Doctor and Rose were sitting next to Kriish, and were pumping him for information.

‘The guy you’re executin’ - what’s his story?’ Rose asked.

Kriish’s expression turned to one of slight anger. ‘He was a respected Stable Master, but he has been found guilty of heresy. He took your name in vain, Your Highness.’

‘And that’s a death sentence?’ the Doctor wondered.

‘As it is written in the Holy Book of the Doctor, those who challenge the son of Kronos with fake gods or show evil in their hearts which must be cleansed through extermination,’ Kriish replied.

The Doctor flinched a little at that. ‘But …’

‘And the Holy Book speaks only the truth,’ Rose interrupted before he could get anywhere. ‘You’ve done well, Kriish.’

‘Thank you,’ Kriish replied. ‘I must go perform my daily prayer duties, Your Highness. Please excuse me.’

Kriish left.

‘Why did you say that?’ the Doctor asked Rose in an undertone.

‘There’s no point tryin’ to change their religion,’ Rose insisted. ‘We need to keep movin’. If you wanna dismantle this, then do it later. Anyway, did you hear? That guy being executed is the Stable Master. That means there are horses around here somewhere.’

The Doctor eventually nodded. ‘Okay. We’ll free him to get the horses.’

‘We don’t need to free him,’ Rose countered. ‘I’m sure these people will let their King and God take whatever he wants.’

The Doctor gazed at her. ‘Rose … whoever this person is, they’ve been condemned to die because of me. If I can’t change these people’s beliefs then I need to at least save one life.’

Rose sighed. ‘All right. You go, I’ll cover you.’ 

‘Try and get some food for the journey,’ he said, and left.

* * *

The Doctor exited the village hall, out into the street. Everyone was at the feast, so no one was around. He paused to listen for any sound of activity, and pinpointed a low, rumbling noise that could only be snoring coming from thirty metres to his right.

He followed the noise, and promptly discovered where the man was being held. There was one person guarding the entrance to a circle of haphazardly-constructed metal cages, and he could see someone sitting inside one on a straw bed.

He looked at the guard. He was in a drunken sleep, with empty flasks on the table next to him. The Doctor walked straight past him to the cell where the man was being held. The man looked up as he approached, his eyes immediately widening.

‘Your Royal Highness!’ he gasped, falling to his knees. ‘As I live and breathe!’

‘Shush!’ the Doctor said quickly. 

The man looked up, and stared at him, confused. ‘Sorry, Your Highness,’ he whispered. 

‘That’s okay,’ the Doctor replied, and brought out his sonic to buzz the lock on the door. He pulled it open, and stepped back to allow the man to exit.

For a moment, the man just knelt there, clearly astonished. ‘...Your Highness?’ he asked, his eyes darting around.

‘I’m freeing you,’ the Doctor said. ‘Be quiet, and come on.’

With a sense of trepidation, the man slowly got to his feet, and stepped through the door into the open. He slightly brushed the Doctor, and flinched, as if he was expecting to be zapped.

‘I’m not going to hurt you,’ the Doctor assured him, and glanced at the guard. Still sound asleep. ‘We need to move out of hearing range.’ 

He led the way, across the clearing and into the nearby forest. They kept going for about one hundred metres until they stopped by a particularly large tree, and the man promptly threw himself to the leafy ground in front of the Doctor.

‘Your Highness, I’m so sorry for everything I said! I took your name in vain! Please forgive me!’ the man begged.

‘That’s all right, everyone needs constructive criticism,’ the Doctor replied cheerfully.  _ ‘Please  _ stop kneeling.’

The man got up, shaking slightly from what could only be complete sensory overload. ‘I … I’m so honoured, sire. Thank you, thank you so much. You are so benevolent and kind that you would forgive my heresy.’

‘Don’t worry,’ the Doctor assured him with a smile. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Jaimiel, sire,’ the man replied.

‘You’re the Stable Master, aren’t you?’ the Doctor asked.

‘Yes, sire,’ he replied, looking puzzled.

‘Thing is, I’m looking for transport, for me and my … maid. We need to get back to … err… my … throne.’

Jaimiel looked confused. ‘Why don’t you just fly there with your wings or summon your angels, Your Highness?’

The Doctor pulled a face. ‘Yes … it’s a common misconception. I don’t have wings. And the angels are on annual leave.’

‘Oh,’ Jaimiel said, looking a little disappointed. ‘I have two horses in the stable at the moment, sire. You are welcome to them both - you and your maid.’

The Doctor shook his head. ‘You need to get out of this village as quickly as possible, Jaimiel,’ he advised. ‘Take one, and leave. Is there anywhere you can go?’

The man nodded. ‘I have family in the northern lands, sire.’

‘Good,’ the Doctor said. ‘Okay. Stay here and keep quiet.’

* * *

The Doctor dropped in on Rose to pick her up, saddled the horses, and took them back to the forest. With more thanks and promises to pray to him every day, Jaimiel took one horse and left at a gallop.

‘Why didn’t we get both the horses?’ Rose asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

‘He had to escape,’ the Doctor pointed out, mounting the horse and offering his hand down to help her up.

‘Yeah, but now we’re gonna be twice as slow,’ she said, taking his hand and getting onto the horse behind him.

‘We’ll be fine,’ the Doctor assured her. ‘As long as we pace Jeremy we can be there in a day.’

‘Jeremy?’ Rose echoed, putting her arms around the Time Lord’s chest to hold on.

‘He looks like a Jeremy,’ the Doctor said happily, patting the horse.

Rose sighed. ‘Just get on with it.’

‘Sorry,’ he replied, throwing the reins. Jeremy started to move. 

* * *

_ 'Temperature 15 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 6:51pm.' _

‘We rode the horse for three days,’ the Doctor recalled. ‘Through lots of little villages. I managed to hide my face for the most part, so I didn’t get recognised. Rose wasn’t really talking to me. Finally, we got to the old Va'A'gnorn palace. Rose had it all worked out - she used me to get us straight through …’

* * *

_ ‘... And eventually we got to the throne room.’ _

There were two guards standing at the entrance to the throne room, holding guns. At the sight of the Doctor, they both jumped in surprise.

‘Sire!’ one cried. ‘But you’ve not left the throne room!’

‘Funny, that, yeah?’ Rose said, pushing straight past them to open the doors. The Doctor followed, and closed them behind him. Clearly having seen them coming from the range of security monitors by a desk, trying to make his escape out of a window on top of a box was a Bar’zelli agent, who turned back to look at them, wide-eyed.

‘You’re real!!!’

Rose grabbed the Doctor’s fake gun immediately, pointing it straight at the Bar’zelli agent. ‘Get down, right now.’

‘I’m sorry!’ the Bar’zelli agent said quickly, his hands in the air and he quickly clambered down from the box as ordered.

‘Get over here,’ Rose demanded.

The Bar’zelli agent awkwardly moved forward, until he was standing by the throne a metre away from Rose, looking petrified. 

‘Get on your knees,’ Rose ordered.

He did, shaking slightly. The Doctor looked at Rose, feeling somewhat nervous. Before he had a chance to deescalate the situation, Rose grabbed the sword out of the Doctor’s holster and thrust it to within an inch of the Bar’zelli agent’s neck. 

‘Tell me where the  _ fuck  _ my son is,’ she growled.

‘Rose,’ the Doctor said quickly, a hand out.

‘Shut up,’ she snapped without looking at him. ‘You’d better start talkin’ or I’m gonna start pressin’ this sword into your throat until your fuckin’ head comes off.’

‘I don’t know,’ the Bar’zelli agent said anxiously. ‘I’m just here to do the taxes! I don’t know who you’re talking about!’

Rose pushed the sword a little. Green blood immediately lined the edge of the blade in a thin cut. ‘Yeah right you don’t know,’ she spat.

‘I don’t!’ the Bar’zelli agent choked.

‘Rose, we don’t need to do this,’ the Doctor tried again, but this time she totally ignored him.

‘The most valuable thing the Bar’zellis have? A little gallifreyan kid who’s probably cryin’ every bloody night because he was stolen from his parents?’ she reminded him. ‘And let me tell you, mate, my son is worth more to me than your life so start talkin’.’

The Bar’zelli agent swallowed nervously. ‘I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. I know we took an asset a few months ago but I was already here ...’

‘You can do better than that,’ Rose growled, pressing ever so slightly more.

‘I swear!’ the Bar’zelli agent cried. ‘That’s all I know!’

‘Where did they take him!?’

‘The asset was being kept in the Bar’zelli palace, but it was all restricted!’

‘There was an auction nearly two months ago. Know anythin’ about that?’

‘No, I swear, I don’t know … it was all exclusive invitation!’

‘Where did they hold the auction?’

‘At the Forum in the Bar’zelli capital!’ 

‘Did they sell him?’

‘I don’t know!’

The Doctor had had enough. He rested a hand on Rose’s shoulder. ‘Rose, he doesn’t know anything else.’

Rose seemed to hesitate, and she then lowered the sword. The blade had cut a shallow line in the Bar’zelli agent’s neck. The Doctor took it from her carefully, trying not to think too much about the bloody blade.

‘Thank you,’ the Bar’zelli agent gasped, holding his neck.

‘We need to get to the Bar’zelli capital,’ the Doctor said calmly as Rose stood silently next to him. ‘Have you got a teleport or a transmat to the capital?’

‘Yes. It’s in that room,’ he said quickly, pointing to their right where there was an unassuming door. ‘It’ll take you to the city gates. But they check everyone going in and out …’

‘Okay,’ the Doctor said. He sheathed the sword, and offered a hand up to the Bar’zelli agent.

‘Thank you,’ the Bar’zelli agent moaned, struggling up.

‘Obviously, us being here isn’t something we’d like the Bar’zellis to know,’ the Doctor said. 

'I know, I know, I promise I won't say anything,’ the agent said desperately. ‘Just don’t lightning me!’

‘No going to … err … “lightning” you,’ the Doctor assured him. ‘Thank you.’

Rose wasted no more time. She walked straight through the side door to the transmat. The Doctor followed hastily into the room, where the transfer was sitting, ready to go.

‘You think he'll say somethin’?’ Rose asked him.

‘Probably, we need to be quick,’ he replied and considered her for the moment. ‘... That wasn’t necessary.’

‘Got the information though, didn’t it?’ she replied curtly, and stepped into the transmat. With something heavy in his hearts, he stepped in beside her, and activated it.

* * *

_ 'Temperature 15 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 7:01pm.' _

‘... There’s something  _ really  _ wrong with Rose,’ the Doctor realised suddenly, feeling a bit cold. 

There was a pause before Jack replied. ‘... Yeah, there is.’

‘What’s wrong with her?’

Suddenly the far door clunked open again, and the Doctor froze as someone approached him. The footfalls were definitely that woman again, as he could smell that excruciating sandalwood perfume. He was just wondering what to do, when the person stopped outside the cell. The forcefield powered down, and the footfalls walked around to stand directly in front of him …

He suddenly felt like a sledgehammer had slammed into his skull as the smell of sandalwood flooded his senses ...

* * *

Someone grabbed him.

‘Get off!’ he cried instinctively.

‘Calm down!’ a familiar voice shouted. ‘It’s me! Jack!’

The Doctor paused as his vision cleared, and saw Jack leaning over him wearing a large backpack, gazing into his eyes and looking concerned

‘Jack,’ he breathed, looking around the room they were in. He didn’t recognise the room - it was a somewhat dishevelled, half-scorched bedroom partially covered in dust sheets. The bed he was lying on was huge, and the window on his right was absolutely filthy. There was a small contained fire in the corner, currently only embers.

‘I know this looks weird, but don’t worry,’ Jack said quickly. 

‘What just …’ the Doctor gasped. To his utter relief he could move, now. ‘Jack. How did we get out of …’

‘Doctor, how much do you remember?’ Jack asked, sounding urgent. ‘Where did you get to in your memories?’

‘I don’t …’

‘Just answer me.’

‘We were talking … me and Rose got the teleport to the Bar'zelli territory.

‘Okay,’ Jack muttered, and offered him a hand. ‘We’ve got to go. Get up.’

‘Go where?’ the Doctor asked, accepting the hand to get to his feet. It felt like he hadn’t been upright for ages. Jack grabbed him to steady him. He started trying to usher him out of the door, but the Doctor quickly grabbed one of the poles of the four-poster bed to stop.

‘Tell me what’s going on,’ he demanded.

‘I swear I’ll answer your questions, but we’ve  _ got  _ to go,’ Jack insisted, pulling him again. This time with the weakness in his limbs, his hand easily came away from the pole and they moved out into a corridor.

Jack immediately pulled out his gun and checked their surroundings for something that wasn’t there, still holding the Doctor’s arm. He pulled him down the corridor, navigating some half-collapsed steps and to a large, grand entrance door. Jack looked at the Doctor, raising his finger to his lips to shush him as he edged forward, pulling it open slightly and peeking through the crack.

‘Clear,’ Jack murmured, taking the Doctor’s arm again and pulling him out into a large driveway where the SUV was parked. Without breaking stride, he pulled the Time Lord over to the car, unlocking it and pushing the Doctor into the passenger seat. He then ran around to the driving seat, only pausing to haul off his backpack and throw it in the backseat.

He slammed the door shut, and started the engine.

‘Jack,’ the Doctor said firmly, starting to get annoyed now. 

‘Let me just get us out of …’ Jack began, but was cut off by a sudden, massive screeching sound and explosion from somewhere to their right. The entire SUV jolted, but managed to stay both on its wheels and intact. 

‘Fuck, we’re too late!’ Jack cried, slamming his foot on the pedal to reverse. The Doctor grabbed onto the dashboard and looked out the windscreen, where he saw a figure standing there in the rain, but he couldn’t make out any details.

The SUV backed away, and the figure seemed to disappear.

They screeched to a halt at the end of the track, and Jack swerved to the left to get them onto the road as another explosion set the hedge on fire to their right. The Doctor checked the mirrors as Jack slammed on the accelerator, and caught the figure again, seemingly having moved at impossible speed to stand in the middle of the road. Now, he could see some detail. They were human - a woman - dressed in something black, with long, tangled, dirty blonde hair and a petrifying smile.

‘Rose!?’ the Doctor gasped as the bond surged through him.

There was yet another screech that ripped through the SUV without damaging the car, and straight into Jack. He screamed, flailed, and died on the spot.

The Doctor dove for the wheel to save them crashing into a tree, managing to land his foot on the accelerator and pull the wheel to get them straight on the road as Jack’s body lolled about uselessly in the seat, blood pouring out of him. The Doctor glanced in the mirror again, but she’d been swallowed up by the darkness. 

He looked out the windscreen, and got the shock of his life as he saw she’d somehow moved at the speed of light, as she was now standing there in the middle of the road with the SUV travelling at fifty miles per hour. He panicked, yanking the steering wheel to avoid hitting her. The car screeched loudly on the tarmac, flipped over, hurtled down a hill, and smashed into a tree where he was knocked out on impact.

* * *

_ 'Temperature 16 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 7:08pm.' _

The Doctor opened his eyes, and found himself back in the cell. He looked around immediately, panicking a little, but no one was there.

‘Jack?’ he asked quickly.

Silence.

‘Jack?’

More silence.

‘Hello?’

Still, nothing.

‘Jack, please,’ the Doctor begged. 

Nothing.

What had just happened? Had that been a dream? It couldn’t have been. It had felt too real to be a dream. 

‘Jack!!!’ the Doctor yelled, but still there was nothing.

Why had Rose been there? Why had she tried to kill him? 

Nothing was making any sense. Both situations couldn’t be real. He physically couldn’t be in two places at once. One had to be a dream, and one reality. He just had no idea which one was which. If this was the dream, then in reality he’d just been in a car crash. But if this was reality, why had the car crash felt so  _ real? _

He had to get out this cell and find out what was going on. He tried wriggling to escape the chains, and found there  _ was  _ a small amount of give. He kept trying - kept wriggling for at least ten minutes - until finally, something seemed to slip. The entire thing unravelled and he seemed to flip over as he crashed down, head first, onto the ground into a puddle.

‘Ow,’ he moaned as his head throbbed. He raised it a little, turning to look at the entrance to the cell. As he’d theorised, there was a forcefield - a blue, shimmering screen. He couldn’t see anything beyond it. 

He still had both of his ankles and his wrists attached to the ceiling with manacles, making them hang up awkwardly in the air behind him. He tried to free himself, but was only able to get a bit of slack so at least he could lie, fairly comfortably, face-first on the ground.

He just needed to free his wrists. He psyched himself up, pushed himself up onto his knees using his shoulders in combination with pure willpower, and threw himself forward with quite some vigour. That hurt, but thankfully something pinged, and his wrists finally came apart from behind his back. He groaned with relief, turning over to check the damage. His wrists still had the manacles on them, but the link between them and their attachment to the ceiling had broken. They were very tight to his skin, but underneath the metal he could just about see his wrists were stolen and cut - evidence that he’d been chained up for only a few hours or so.

He checked himself over. He was wearing the pressed shirt and jeans he'd been wearing since Hivernia, which were ripped, bloodied, and dirty - particularly his left wrist, though there didn't seem to be any evidence of an injury there. Despite that he seemed to be fairly intact, with some bruising and some cuts, and his right ankle didn’t look too healthy. It was entirely numb, bruised, and slightly deformed. 

His feet were still attached to the ceiling and linked together with just a little bit of slack, so he used his freed hands to try and get them off. The manacles wouldn’t budge. Again, they perfectly fitted him, as though they’d been custom made for his exact size.

That wasn’t a happy thought.

He turned his attention back to the forcefield again. He thought for a moment, and then looked around the cell for some inspiration. In the corner, he could see the piece of metal that had pinged off on the ground.

He crawled over to it, having to stretch the last half a metre in order to grab it. He then shuffled back to his original position, weighed it up in his hand, and threw it at the forcefield. 

He really didn’t expect the forcefield to suddenly surge, shriek, and blast the piece of metal straight back at him.

He yelped and ducked and it just about missed him, slamming into the far stone wall to create a dent. 

Well, there was definitely no way out, he mused.

‘Jack? Anyone!’ he tried again. 

Still nothing.

He groaned and laid back on the floor, out of the puddle. If he couldn’t get out and he couldn’t talk to anyone, the only option left was to try and remember.

He closed his eyes, and tried desperately to recall what had happened next.


	18. Lanwa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Rose entered the criminal capital of the universe in pursuit of their son as the Doctor finally realises what's happened to Rose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to a bumper jumbo extended chapter! Note, there's some really dark overtones in this one, with a little bit of light dub-con thrown in. Business as usual, then.

_ ‘... We managed to get to Angel City, the Bar’zelli capital.’ _

In a whoosh and a clunk, the Doctor and Rose disappeared from the palace and reappeared somewhere a whole lot more darker.

They stumbled out of the transmat into a narrow, back alley street that stank to high heaven of rancid takeaways, drugs, urine, and fuel fumes, with flashing neon lights pulsing through the murky, muggy air, somewhere off in the distance. There was concrete everywhere awash with dirt and other indeterminable dried substances, the sound of vehicles screeching and people shouting obscenities from all around them in the cold night air.

The Doctor dared to breathe, and immediately started coughing. It was half fumes. Rose dug into her pocket and pulled out the mask, giving it to him, and he gratefully took some air in.

‘Welcome to the criminal capital of the Universe,’ the Doctor said.

‘Nice place,’ Rose muttered. ‘It’s like Friday night in Soho.’

He smiled a little at that. ‘Already looks even worse than last time I was here,’ he said. ‘We should get to the Forum.’

‘Do you know where it is?’

‘I can have a good guess,’ the Doctor replied, intermittently breathing through the mask. ‘Need to figure out where we are.’

He lifted the hood of his jacket to hide his head, and made sure his fake gun was visible. He tried to give the mask back to her, but started coughing immediately. He put it to his face again, pressed a few buttons on the mask, and let go. It stayed on his face.

‘I can’t breathe here,’ he said, his voice coming through the mask with a slight electronic inflection, sounding a little bit like Darth Vader. ‘Tell me if you need a few clean breaths.’

‘I’m fine,’ Rose replied, lifting her hood too.

‘Stay low, no eye contact with anyone, and stick beside me,’ he advised. ‘Hands in pockets. Don’t be scared. I’m going to do some things that I wouldn’t normally do, but it’s okay. It’s the only way to survive, here.’

She nodded and obeyed, and he started walking to the end of the alley. They passed an alien who was sitting against the wall next to an overloaded bin filled with rats and flies, who was staring blankly into space, clearly out of his head on chemicals. 

They reached the main street, and immediately heard a gunshot ripple out. The Doctor didn’t break stride, so neither did Rose. He turned right, and they started making their way down the broken pavement, which was filled with drugged, zombie-like people and a couple of clearly dead bodies. As they neared a dilapidated cinema, a fight broke out right in front of them. The Doctor deftly avoided it, and then moved back onto the pavement. They kept going, through the sea of drugged people, as some screams rang out from somewhere nearby. The Doctor still didn’t react.

Someone with a face like a snake suddenly jumped out in front of them and grabbed Rose’s lapels, shaking her so hard her hood dropped.

‘Gizza some creditzz hoomanoid,’ he hissed. ‘Chozz wanna some spit.’

The Doctor immediately stopped and gripped the reptile’s arm, pulling him away from Rose with a mighty yank that caused the snake-like being to trip over and end up on the concrete. The Time Lord then pulled out his fake gun and pointed it at the creature’s head.

‘Back off or I’ll blow your head off,’ he grated through the breathing mask, the twinge of electronics adding a touch of eeriness to his tone.

‘Chozz wanna some spit!’ the reptile whined.

‘We don’t have any credits. Run while you still can,’ the Doctor advised in a low, threatening voice, and made a point of loading his fake gun. The reptile paused, and then got to his feet and staggered away.

‘Okay?’ the Doctor asked Rose in an undertone, sheathing his gun again.

‘Yeah,’ she said, pulling up her hood once more to cover her head. ‘What’s spit? He kept talking about spit.’

The Doctor nodded to the bodies lying stoned out of their heads on the ground like scattered pebbles. ‘You’re looking at it.’

‘Drug?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Oh.’

They continued, reaching the end of the street to a four-way junction. Finally there was a road sign, which had some graffiti on it and bullet holes. The Doctor stopped and read it.

‘Angel City, East District,’ he said. ‘Good.’

‘We’re near?’

‘Yeah. I was dreading having to use the underground trains for a minute, there.’

‘Bet they’re lovely and all,’ Rose muttered.

‘We need to get to the North District. Should be about twenty minutes …’ - he checked the sign again, and then pointed - ‘... that way.’

She nodded.

* * *

They travelled from twenty minutes through the utter cesspit of a city, covered in the absolute worst sights the Universe had to offer. Thankfully no one stopped them again, but they had to avoid gun fights, lynches, and swathes of dead and dying bodies. 

They finally reached a large gate defended by a barrier made of junk, which had twelve armed guards posted.

The Doctor avoided it, and walked into a nearby alleyway, making his way to the end.

_ ‘Please  _ still be here,’ he muttered, and began to check the wall on the left, pulling on some of the bricks.

‘What is it?’

‘Last time I dug a tunnel to get out of the North District,’ he said, and finally one of the bricks came away. He breathed a sigh of relief, and started pulling out all of the surrounding bricks. Rose helped, and finally a small, muddy, round tunnel was revealed with only darkness beyond. 

He shot her a look to check her. 'Here,’ he said, and held out the breathing mask. 'I’m okay for a bit.’

'I don't need it, I'm fine,’ she assured him.

‘Please,’ he said honestly, still holding it out. She eventually sighed and took it. He pressed a few buttons, and it stuck to her mouth.

He nodded at her, smiling, and then climbed into the tunnel on his hands and knees. 

‘This should lead to the main square if they didn’t find the tunnel,’ he told her.

* * *

After ten minutes of crawling through the dirt and the dark, they reached the end of the tunnel, emerging on a thin walkway in the unused sewer system in a large, dry concrete-looking tunnel. They both clambered out and jumped down into the main sewer line, brushing themselves down free of the mud.

‘Really hoped I wouldn't be here again,’ the Doctor muttered, looking around and coughing a little.

Rose looked down. ‘Bit of you?’ she asked, pointing. He followed her finger and saw some dried red blood on the ground, with a slight orange tinge.

‘Yep,’ he said, and tried to scuff it away with his shoe. He then led the charge down the sewer.

‘So what exactly happened last time you were here?’ Rose asked, walking beside him. 'I thought you weren't hurt?’

‘I was asked by the Lady of Jin’par to find the head of the Terracore - she’d been captured by the Bar’zelli slavers,’ the Doctor replied. ‘I found her, but then I was caught by the son of the Bar’zelli leader, Bac’ou.’

‘He was the guy in the boathouse, yeah?’ Rose asked.

He nodded. ‘I was about to be sold, but I managed to get out of the cells with the girl. While we were running she was shot and killed, and a bullet grazed me. I kept going, trying to lose myself in the streets, and managed to get to the main square after five hours. I found a drain cover and thought if nothing else it was going to be a good hiding place. I ended up in this sewer system. I just decided to go as far as I could, and reached the dead end. There was a little area where I realised the wall was made of mud, and I was so desperate I thought maybe if I kept going it would get me out of the North District, because I couldn't exactly go back out of the drain cover.’

'That must've taken a while.’

‘It took me two weeks to dig through. I only had my nails and the sonic.’

'Bet you stank when you were done.’

The Doctor laughed, and started coughing again. This time he stopped walking, his hand on the wall to hold himself up.

'Sit down,’ she ordered him, pulling him to the ground with his sleeve. He obliged without protest, curling into the foetal position and ejecting coughs that steadily became increasingly more violent.

She pressed the buttons she'd seen him click on the mask, pulling it off of her face and giving it back to him. He gratefully took in some air.

'Sorry,’ he gasped. 'Gimme a minute.’

She reached up to pull away his hood, brushing through his hair to get rid of some crumbs of mud that had embedded themselves in the strands.

'How come there's no sewage if it's a sewer?’ she asked, nodding pointedly around at the distinct lack of anything messy on the ground.

'As it turns out, huge criminal organisations aren't big on sewage treatment and maintenance,’ the Doctor replied between breaths. ‘They won't be giving any sewage services to anyone outside the North District so they've blocked it off.’

'As long as I'm not about to get hit by a tidal wave,’ Rose joked, smiling.

He smiled back. ‘Nah.’

'So what's the plan once we get to the Forum?’

He shrugged. ‘Best bet is probably to get to the sales book, see if there's any record of the auction from a couple of months ago. There might be a buyer name and address listed, if we're lucky,’ he said, and then looked at her. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Yeah.’

‘You don’t seem scared.’

‘What would be the point in that?’ Rose asked seriously, and got up. ‘How far to the drain cover?’

‘About half a mile,’ he replied, gazing at her. 

‘I’ll go and check, see what’s out there,’ she said.

‘Be careful,’ he said. She kissed his forehead, left her backpack, and made her way down the tunnel, disappearing around the corner. 

The Doctor watched her go. Something was gnawing at his insides. Something didn’t feel right. The bond was insisting everything was fine, but his gut was saying something different. 

As he sat there, just breathing, he wondered if he was overreacting. Probably, he concluded. There were plenty of times Rose had claimed to not be scared … although he’d always been able to tell when she was lying, and when she was just being brave. But this time, her response had been rather too cold. Decisive. Firm. Unyielding. She really  _ wasn’t  _ scared. They were on the run in the criminal capital of the entire universe surrounded by death, destruction, and despair, and she wasn’t scared.

Clearly during his recovery, her psyche had undergone something wholly awful. When … if, he corrected himself … they eventually managed to get back home, he was going to have to do a lot of work to fix her.

The young woman he’d first met in a high street shop was now not the woman he was travelling with, he thought. And  _ he’d _ done that. That was him. 

She returned twenty minutes later. ‘We’re at the edge of this plaza place,’ she told him, sitting down next to him again. ‘There’s a weird fountain thing in the middle.’

‘Yep, that’s the square. Was there a big building opposite, looking a bit like the entrance to the Bank of England?’

‘Yeah,’ she replied.

‘That’s the Forum,’ he said. ‘What’s the security like?’

‘Five guards walkin’ around the square,’ she replied. ‘We won’t be able to get there without bein’ seen.’

The Doctor chewed this over. ‘Going to have to wait until morning,’ he realised. ‘We’ll be able to merge in with the crowds.’

She nodded, and pulled her backpack to her, rummaging through. ‘Let’s eat and sleep,’ she said. 

* * *

_ 'Temperature 16 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 7:30pm.' _

‘I’m hungry,’ the Doctor muttered aloud to himself.

He looked around, but he couldn’t see anything through the forcefield or the stone walls, of course. Just how long had he been in here, anyway? How long since he’d actually had food?

‘Jack?’ he tried again, hopeful.

Nothing. What had happened to him?

Suddenly the far door opened, and there were the footsteps again. He tensed a little. He was still lying on the ground with his legs chained. He couldn’t run. He quickly closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, just like before.

The forcefield lowered, and the smell of sandalwood breached his senses again. The footsteps were now right next to him. There was a pause, and then suddenly something that could only be a heel pressed down onto his chest, right where he’d been shot. He couldn’t help himself. He cried out, his eyes snapping open to meet the face lingering above him.

‘Though that might get your attention,’ she said in a voice that was so familiar, yet so strange.

‘Rose?’ he gasped, wide-eyed and staring at her. She looked dishevelled, with her blonde hair now grown out back into her natural darker tones. She was wearing ripped clothes and an incredibly evil smile.

‘Hello, my Doctor,’ she said. 

‘You’re …’ he started, but didn’t get any further as she forced her heel with more pressure into his chest. He screamed in pure agony, with the bond on fire, flailing a little as the pain increased ...

* * *

The Doctor opened his eyes, and immediately his head was throbbing.

He looked around, wondering where he’d ended up this time. He blinked a few times, trying to focus, and, saw he was in some sort of small cave, lying under Jack’s coat, with man himself sitting on the ground stoking a fire a few metres away. 

‘Hey,’ Jack greeted. ‘How’s your head?’

The Time Lord groaned and sat up. ‘Feels like I’ve been hit with a brick,’ he said, rubbing his eyes. ‘Where am I?’

‘You’re back in the world where we crashed the SUV,’ Jack replied.

The Doctor frowned. ‘How …’

‘I revived, and managed to escape before she got us,’ he answered.

‘How long have I been out?’

‘Around half an hour.’

The Doctor paused to think about that. That was the same amount of time he’d been in the cell.

‘I saw Rose,’ he said. ‘She was … both here and in the cell …’

‘I guess you've got a lot of questions,’ Jack supposed. ‘But you've gotta understand. I can't tell you much. I wish I could, but I can’t.’

The Doctor’s eyebrows lowered as suddenly he was irritated at the complete lack of help from the man who was supposed to be his friend. ‘You _promised_ you’d tell me if I left that place,’ he said firmly. ‘So start talking _._ Nothing is making sense and I’m not playing this game anymore, Jack.’

Jack looked uncharacteristically nervous. 

‘If you don’t start explaining I’m going to walk straight out of here,’ the Doctor warned him lowly.

‘Please trust me. There's a plan you made. I'm just following your orders. If I don’t, this whole thing will turn to shit. Ask your questions and I’ll tell you what I can.’

The Doctor dropped his head in his hands, groaning. ‘Okay. Why is Rose chasing me and somehow holding me captive at the same time? Why am I going between being in a cell and being here?’

Jack leant forward, picking up an unburnt stick from the fire. He traced a small circle in the dirt. ‘Okay. One is a world Rose has created, that’s the cell.’ 

He drew a second circle next to it. 

'And the other is this world. That’s this one we’re in right now.’ 

He then carved out a stick figure above. 

‘One of your bodies is the dream guardian.’ 

He drew another stick figure beside it. 

‘... And one is your true physical form. Rose knows that the only thing that can kill her is your dream guardian self. But …’ 

He drew a squiggly lines from the stick figures to the circles. 

‘... She doesn't know which one's which.’

‘So Rose has one of me captured,’ the Doctor surmised, ‘but she doesn’t know whether she’s got the dream guardian or my real body. That’s what’s happening when she tried to get in my head. She's trying to find out which one’s which.’

‘The only person who knows which one is which is you,’ Jack said. ‘She doesn’t want to kill your real body. Just your dream guardian self. After the dream guardian’s dead … we won’t be able to save Rose. She knows that. When you remember what happened, you'll have enough power as a dream guardian to end this, and kill her. She wants to stop that.’

‘What does she want from my real body?’

‘Don’t know,’ Jack replied. ‘But I’m pretty sure it’s not a good thing.’

‘So that’s not Rose. It can’t be Rose. Is it?’

Jack pulled a face. ‘It  _ is  _ Rose, I mean, physically. Mentally, she’s not.’

‘So she's been changed somehow,’ the Doctor reasoned. ‘I know in my memories she’s acting a bit off, but this is insane. She’s got these … dreamlike powers. How has she turned into this?’

Jack shook his head. ‘I can’t tell you that.’

The Doctor groaned. 'Okay. So I get there's two of me, but why are there two of you?’

‘What?’ Jack asked, confused.

'In the cell. I was talking to you, and then you just sort of … disappeared.’

Jack sighed. 'Doctor, Rose is controlling every tiny aspect of that world. Whatever you were talking to wasn't me.’

‘... She  _ made  _ him?’

'Guess so,’ Jack replied, and then froze. 'Wait, you didn't tell him anything, did you?’

'No … well, I couldn't remember anything, so there was nothing to tell,’ the Doctor reasoned. ‘... He was trying to help me.’

'Telling you to speed up?’ Jack wondered. 'Telling you time was running out? Telling you if you didn't remember everyone was going to die? Telling you things that, on reflection, I couldn't know?’

The Doctor swallowed. ‘He said … he said that I'd told Rose we'd never be reproductively compatible just before Leah was born. I don't remember ever telling you that.’

‘Funny, right?’ Jack said. ‘Be careful. She'll do anything to get the information she needs. She controls everything, there. Don’t trust anything anyone does or says. Where did you leave off in the cell?’ 

‘She came in … and dug her heel into my chest,’ the Doctor recalled.

‘You’d better go back,’ Jack said. ‘God knows what she’s doing to you. Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe in this world.’

The Doctor nodded. ‘Okay,’ he said, and repositioned himself to get a little more comfortable, closing his eyes, and waited to fall asleep.

* * *

The Doctor opened his eyes, his chest pulsating with pain. His vision was swerving slightly until he focused, and he found himself in a large, grand hall, sitting in a chair at a table. In front of him was a banquet of food. Everything from chicken to roast potatoes, cherries, trifles, and things that made his empty stomach rumble with anticipation.

It could be tainted, he thought. But as his hunger hit him, and he rapidly decided it was worth the risk. She couldn’t kill him until she knew which one was the dream guardian, after all.

He tried to reach forward, but found he couldn’t move. He looked down, and realised he was clamped to the chair with metal rings around his neck, wrists, chest, and legs.

There came a giggle from from somewhere to his right, and he immediately saw Rose sitting at the head of the long, grand table, her chin in her hand, gazing at him with a disturbing facsimile of a smile. She definitely hadn't been there before.

'Rose,’ he muttered.

'Hungry?’ she asked, still smiling.

He paused, staring at her. ‘Unlock me, now,’ he demanded.

‘Not yet,’ she replied, and got up. She moved over to him, bringing the smell of sandalwood, perching herself on the table and taking a spoon, digging into some swede mash and taking a spoonful. She held it up to him.

‘Open wide,’ she ordered.

He glared at her. ‘I’m not doing anything for you until you give me Rose back. Whatever you are, whatever’s possessing her body - just let her go. Take me instead.’

Rose gazed at him for a moment. 'Oh, wow. You don't know how this happened, yet, do ya?’

He paused, a little confused.

She laughed. 'Oh my god, you don't know. You don't know what you did.’

‘What  _ I  _ did?’

She ignored the question. ‘Open wide.’

‘No,’ he said. 

She sighed and dunked the spoon back in the swede. ‘I can see why all of the aliens we’ve fought find you so bloody irritatin’. I used to find it funny.’

‘Let’s just get to the point,’ he grunted, pulling on the restraints slightly. 

She caught his hand. ‘Play nice, or I’ll chuck you back in the cell,’ she warned. 

‘Then do it,’ he challenged. 

‘I hoped we’d have a more lovin’ reunion than this,’ she said. 

‘I’ll have that when you get out of Rose’s body.’

She just smiled at that. ‘Oh, you’ve gone into your “serious mode”. I always called it your, “I’m gonna smack you up” expression.’

‘Get out of her.’

‘Get out of her!’ she mimicked in a whiney voice.

‘Stop it,’ the Doctor demanded.

‘Stop it!’ she repeated, her eyes narrowing. ‘Stop bloody complainin’. You’re supposed to be a thousand years old for god’s sake. I brought you up here to be with me, not drive me up the fuckin’  _ wall!’ _

She screamed her last word, slamming her fist onto the table. Everything flew up about a metre in the air and came crashing down in a sea of food and china.

There was a threatening, lingering pause.

‘Got anythin’ else to say, Time Lord?’ she asked incredulously.

The Doctor remained silent.

‘Good,’ she spat, and then moved to straddle his legs, facing him so their faces were inches apart. 

He scoured her eyes desperately to find any hint of Rose. He couldn’t see anything. 

‘Now,’ she began. ‘I need some information, and I’d like you to give it to me. I want you to stay up here with me. I’ll feed you, clothe you, fix your ankle and give you somewhere lovely and warm to sleep.’

‘So I’ll tell you whether I’m the real Doctor or the dream guardian version?’ the Doctor wondered. ‘So you can get inside my head easier?’

‘Yep,’ she said.

‘I think I’d rather be in the cells,’ the Doctor replied.

‘No, you wouldn’t,’ Rose replied, grinning with her tongue between her teeth in that sweet way he used to like.

‘Yes, I would,’ he replied confidently.

‘No, you really wouldn’t,’ she insisted. ‘Because what you’re forgettin’ is that I know you. I’ve been with you for so long that I know every inch of you. I know every artery, every vein, every biological detail. I can make you feel good …’ She reached around to his back and pressed a finger between his shoulder blades, right in the sweet spot. He shivered involuntarily. ‘I can make you feel fuzzy …’ She pressed her finger into his left shoulder where the nerve cluster was. Momentarily, he felt incredibly faint. ‘And I can make you  _ hurt.’ _

She pressed a fist into his chest, right where he’d been shot, with enough force to crack a few ribs. He yelped as the pain radiated out, but she withdrew before he woke up.

‘I know that you won’t lay a single finger on me,’ she continued. ‘Not on me. Not on your precious Rose. Not just because the bond won’t let you, but because you won’t be able to bring yourself to. And wanna know what the best thing is?’ 

‘What?’ he gasped.

‘I know that you won’t leave. You won’t leave me here, Doctor. As long as you think I can be saved, you won’t leave me.’

She was right, he realised.

‘So give it up,’ she continued. ‘Go on, Doctor. Tell me. Which one are you? The dream guardian or the real Doctor? Let’s save us both some time, here.’

‘No, no, no. I'll ask a question, then I’ll answer yours,’ the Doctor replied. ‘I understand why you want to kill my dream guardian self, but why do you want my real body so much?’

‘Oh, he's started his interrogation,’ Rose said, grinning. ‘This is the part where I’m s’posed to answer everythin’ you ask, then you won’t give me anythin’ in return, yeah? I’ve seen you do it a million times.’

He sighed. ‘Okay. I don’t know who I am,’ he said honestly. ‘I can’t remember.’

‘Wow, so your plan is to take your time until you’ve got enough power as the dream guardian to beat me. In the meantime, you’ve wiped your memory so I won’t get anythin’, even if I get inside your head,’ she surmised, and reached up to trace a thumb down his bottom lip. ‘You’re so clever. I love you.’

He said nothing.

‘Say it back.’

‘No.’

‘Say it back,’ she insisted.

‘No,’ he repeated.

She raised her hand, which danced with dark red energy. The neck restraint suddenly began to tighten.

‘Say it back,’ she demanded again.

‘No,’ he wheezed, suddenly struggling to get any air in.

‘I see,’ she murmured, and suddenly the neck restraint slackened. He panted, trying to restore the oxygen flow in his body as she raised her hand in front of him, her other hand reached up, and threateningly gripped one of her own fingers, about to break it.

‘I’ve got so much I can do to my body,’ she told him happily. ‘You won’t let that happen.’

‘... I love you,’ he muttered reluctantly.

‘Much better,’ Rose said, smiling and dropping her hand. She pecked a kiss to his lips. He squirmed. ‘You wanna know what I want your real body for?’ 

‘Yes.’

‘It’s the only way to keep her spirit under control. If I’ve got you, then she can’t fight me, because she knows what I’ll do to you. Or rather, what I’ll make her body do to you,’ Rose replied.

The Doctor stared at her. ‘So Rose  _ is  _ still in there.’

She moved her head near his ear, blowing on it briefly, before whispering into it with her hot, humid breath washing over his lobe, ‘right now, she’s screamin’.’

‘Let her go,’ he demanded.

‘I can’t,’ Rose whispered into his ear. ‘It doesn’t work like that. We’re the same thing, now.’

‘Who are you?’

She drew back, and smiled at him. ‘... You’ll know me by the name Lanwa.’

He stared at her, utterly stunned. He knew that name. ‘But … no. You can’t … she can’t have … How did she …?’

‘Time to jump back,’ she purred, and slapped him across the face.

* * *

The Doctor gasped and sat bolt upright, finding himself travelling in the car in the dark. Jack was driving. 

‘Stop the car,’ the Doctor said quickly, his mind in a whirl.

‘We can’t, we’re …’

‘Stop the car!!!’ the Doctor yelled.

Jack quickly obliged, pulling over onto the side of a rural road by a cattle gate. ‘Doctor? What happened?’

‘She … she’s got Lanwa’s disease,’ the Doctor said, shaking. 

Jack didn’t seem surprised. He rested a hand on the Doctor’s shoulder. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘How did this happen? How did I let it get this far?’ the Doctor asked weakly.

‘We didn’t know,’ Jack said. ‘We didn’t know she’d contracted it. It’s so hard to detect. By the time we realised she had Lanwa’s disease it was too late.’

‘This is all my fault. I made her into this.’

‘It wasn’t,’ Jack insisted. ‘It wasn’t your fault.’

The Doctor looked at him, feeling like he was about to cry. ‘But there’s only one person she could have gotten it from.’

‘I know.’

The Doctor looked into the door mirror, seeing his own reflection, looking so lost and heartbroken.

‘... Me.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One round to go!


	19. The Lost Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor discusses the disease with Jack, before he recalls finally finding Theo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back for the final haul, hurrah!

As the Doctor and Jack sat in the car at the side of the road, appropriately it began to rain.

Lanwa’s disease, the Doctor thought bitterly. Transmittable telepathic cancer. The killer disease for telepaths. It never threw up symptoms in species with high-functional telepathic abilities, like him. He was just a carrier. But to lower species, it was incredibly destructive. It ripped them apart inside out, both mentally and physically.

‘Lanwa’s disease hit the jackpot with her,’ he murmured, staring at his legs. ‘Transmitted through a powerful mental bond from a high-functioning telepath - me - and found a low-functioning telepath - Rose. A low-functioning telepath who not only couldn't fight back telepathically, but also one who was mentally vulnerable.’

‘She didn't stand a chance,’ Jack said quietly.

‘Inside it sat, in her brain, growing and corrupting everything inside, manifesting itself inside her dreams. The only thing stopping it was me being her Dream Guardian and real life Guardian; for a while I kept her happy and mentally stable. But then I was shot and I couldn't protect her. It came back. And now, it's won. She's dying, and it's all my fault.’

‘It's not your fault,’ Jack stressed.

‘She had all of the symptoms. Mood swings, psychopathic tendencies, raised psi levels, and her dreams starting to feel real to her. Everything was there, and I completely missed it. And I was to one to  _ infect  _ her, Jack. It couldn't have been anyone else.’

‘When did you infect her?’ Jack asked.

‘Moirai,’ the Doctor replied in a mutter. ‘When the Moirai gave us that heightened connection through the bond, our telepathic connection was through the roof for a really long time. It must’ve been then.’

‘How did you get infected?’

The Doctor looked at him. ‘It had to be the Master.’

‘What?’ Jack asked, surprised.

‘During … well, you know. Only he could have possibly done it. It has to be him.’

Jack paused. ‘He had to have sustained a telepathic connection for days for you to get infected. Maybe you got it some other way.’

‘No … he did it. I know when he did, too.’

‘When?’

‘... There was one night after the Master had been aging and de-aging me all day, he got bored. He threatened to do some things to you and Martha’s family. I couldn’t let him. I had to keep his attention on me. I tried talking to him, but he wasn’t listening. I had to do something drastic. So I punched him. 

‘He got so angry that he beat the life out of me with a crowbar. I was coughing up blood, and I passed out. While I was unconscious, he dragged me to the Tardis. When I woke up, he started attacking my telepathic centres like a battering ram. I don’t know how he did it, but somehow he used the Paradox Machine to put me in a perpetual loop of it, and left me there. 

‘I woke up two weeks later in the medical wing of the Valiant. I don’t remember how or when it stopped. The Master was there. He was so surprised I was still alive. So was I. I think … I think the Tardis must’ve helped me stay alive.’

Jack swore. ‘Bastard.’

‘He must’ve infected me then,’ the Doctor murmured. ‘I should’ve realised. But I didn’t check myself. I didn’t think. I didn’t … I’m so stupid.’

‘You had no idea the Master had it to start with, so how could you possibly know he’d given it to you?’ Jack pointed out. ‘Your telepathic ability is too high to show any symptoms. Lanwa’s needs a specific set of scans to get it identified. You just had no reason to look for it.’

‘I had every reason,’ the Doctor spat, suddenly angry. ‘I should’ve assumed he had it. I’m a complete idiot.’

‘You’re not an idiot.’

‘I should have checked for this straight away in Rose. I could have caught it early. If I’d just thought it through …’

‘There’s still a chance she’ll recover.’

‘How!?

‘She’s got us.’

‘Oh, well, that’s okay then,’ the Doctor snapped, shooting him a scathing look. ‘I’ve killed her!’

‘No,’ Jack said firmly. ‘This was the Master. This wasn’t you. He basically telepathically raped you and gave you the mental equivalent of HIV and didn't bother telling you he'd probably infected you. But we’ve got a serious chance of killing this thing. Go back to her world. I'll get us somewhere safe.’

* * *

The Doctor opened his eyes, and found this time he was lying on a large, silk-sheeted four poster bed in a large, extravagant bedroom, which was currently dark. He groaned, forcing his tired body to sit up, checking his limbs to make sure everything was intact. It was, besides his ankle.

He checked the room for any sign of Rose perhaps hiding in the shadows, but she wasn’t there. He gingerly got to his feet, testing the ankle slightly. It shot through with considerable pain. He’d fractured it, somehow. Probably from hanging upside by it for a massive length of time.

He pushed himself up using the corner poles of the bed onto his good foot, and hopped to the large, heavy wooden door at the far end of the room. He tried it, but it didn’t budge an inch.

He looked around for more possible exits. There was only a window to the left of the bed, affording a view of some cloudy exterior. He hopped to it, testing the catch to try and get it open. Again, nothing shifted. He looked out, nose pressed to the glass. It genuinely looked like they were floating above the clouds.

He hopped back to his bed, and noticed there was an arrangement of plates on the bedside table, stacked with food. He hopped back over to sit on the bed, and reached out for a banana to try and fill his somewhat empty stomach.

His hand passed straight through it, like a hologram.

He sighed. Dream world, he supposed.

He laid back on the bed, staring up at the roof of the four poster bed with his arms wrapped around his throbbing chest. At least, he thought, he was alone and away from Rose. For now.

Despite Jack’s warning, he had to keep remembering. He had to remember which one he was, and save Rose Tyler from the disease he’d given her.

‘We stayed in the sewer all night,’ he recalled. ‘After we woke up …’

* * *

_ ‘... We headed out into the square.’ _

The Doctor was the first out of the drain, darting to a nearby wall for cover. Rose’s head popped out of the drain. He looked around, and gave the signal that it was clear. She emerged quickly, and kicked the drain cover back into place before joining him.

The Doctor regarded the square - it wasn’t as populated as he’d like, but there seemed to be enough people about to not stick out like a sore thumb. A couple of stalls with some buyers milling about, and a handful of guards chatting in the centre.

‘We’ll go directly to the Forum,’ he said lowly to Rose, reaching into his pocket to pull out a scarf, wrapping it around the breathing mask and his face so only his eyes were showing. ‘Gaze low; straight there. If anyone confronts us, split up.’

She nodded. He briefly squeezed her hand, and then raised his hood again. She followed suit, and they began to walk.

They passed the first stall, then the second. They then reached the cluster of guards, laughing. One unexpectedly stepped back straight into the Doctor.

‘Oi, watch it!’ the guard said, turning to look at him as they both stumbled.

‘Apologies, sir,’ the Doctor said quickly, bowing as he heard Rose fracture off and go around the fountain the other way.

‘Yeah, you’d better be!’ the guard snapped, regarding him. ‘What are you? Slave?’

‘Yessir,’ the Doctor replied.

The guard slapped him around the head. The rest of the guards jeered and laughed. ‘Get lost.’

‘Yessir,’ the Doctor said quickly, bowing again before scuttling off, back on track to the Forum again. Rose was there by the entrance, waiting. He joined her, and they entered the building together.

They emerged into a very lavishly decorated large hall, adorned with carved statues and regal tapestries. It was bustling with activity, with well-dressed aliens wandering around with slaves in tow. 

‘Every well-off person has a personal slave, called a ji’ka,’ the Doctor muttered to Rose. ‘I’m yours. Get to the auction room and ask to see the logbook.’

‘Okay,’ she replied, nodding as she started forward. The Doctor dropped to walk behind her, taking hold of her upper arm lightly as they crossed the hall, following the signs to the auction room.

They entered the auction room, which was in the middle of a sale. There was a terrified-looking man standing on the stage at the far end of the room, clad in chains and with bruises and lesions, a gag in his mouth and a bright red neon bracelet around his wrist.

‘Lot number 14 for today, a human male, freshly caught from a passenger ship. Well built, partially damaged, and comes installed with a fully functioning ji’ka wristband,’ the auctioneer said. ‘Non-violent temperament, won’t be too difficult to break in. We’ll start at 500.’ Someone raised a hand. ‘Thank you sir, do I have 550?’

The Doctor nudged Rose and nodded to a female alien standing at a table at the side of the room, holding a datapad and wearing one of those wrist bands. Rose walked up to the woman, lowering her hood.

‘Oi, ji’ka,’ she said, taking the woman’s arm and pulling her to face her.

The woman stumbled around, looking stunned. ‘Sorry ma’am, I didn’t see you there …’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Rose dismissed. ‘I wanna see your logbook of sales from the past year, right now.’

‘Ma’am, that’s not permitted, I can’t …’

‘Are you denyin’ me what I want?’ Rose hissed.

‘No, I …’

‘Your owner will hear about this,’ Rose spat.

The slave looked terrified at the prospect. She quickly fumbled through the menus on her datapad and handed it to Rose. ‘I apologise, ma’am.’

‘Shut up,’ Rose snapped, and smacked her around the head. 

The Doctor watched, his hearts racing a little at Rose’s easy callousness as the slave bowed, and went away.

‘When was the auction?’ Rose asked the Doctor, as if it had never happened.

The Doctor dismissed his thoughts, and scanned through the database. He found it almost immediately. ‘There,’ he said.

**Lot #58. Gallifreyan human hybrid young. Male. Healthy. Undamaged. No wristband. Result: bid did not meet reserve.**

‘He wasn’t sold,’ Rose realised.

‘He’s still here,’ the Doctor agreed. ‘The Bar’zellis might be holding him for a bit until the right buyer comes forward.’

Rose nodded. ‘Where would they keep him?’

‘I’m not sure. There’s a holding area for slaves ready to auction in a prison next to the Bar’zelli HQ,’ the Doctor said. ‘But if they want him healthy they’ll have to keep him away from there, possibly in the HQ itself. But we need to avoid Bac’ou and his stooges. He’s probably forgotten you, but he’ll know me.’

Rose nodded. ‘Try the prison, then,’ she said. ‘How do we get in?’

‘Potential buyers are allowed to view the slaves before buying in the prison, we should be able to walk right in. Pretend you're looking for something exactly like him without mentioning him.’

Rose nodded again. ‘Okay. Let’s go.’

* * *

‘What type of ji’ka is ma’am looking to purchase?’ a man asked politely from behind a well-kept desk in the entrance to the prison.

‘I’m lookin’ for somethin’ unique,’ Rose replied, throwing her hair back. ‘Some sort of special species. I need a showpiece for my dinner parties.’

The man nodded slowly. ‘We have a lot of telepaths. A lovely one just came in - a plenanian male, we’ve had a lot of interest in it.’

‘No,’ Rose said, sighing. ‘Plenanians bore me.’

‘Of course,’ the man said, smiling and nodding. ‘Would ma’am prefer one with a ji’ka wristband?’

‘I don’t want anythin’ with a band. My family have our own system we use for ji’kas.’

The man’s gaze drifted to the Doctor. ‘Yes, I noticed your ji’ka didn’t have a band,’ he said. ‘We have a few stock fitting your description but they are all partially damaged.’

‘I don’t take damaged stock, and I’d prefer somethin’ young,’ Rose replied.

The man gazed at her. ‘May I ask, how much is ma’am willing to spend?’

‘I don’t care, money’s nothin’ to me,’ Rose replied.

His smile broadened. ‘I believe we may have something for you. Please allow me to make a call. Excuse me.’

The man left the desk, heading through a back door. As he opened it, the Doctor distinctly heard some screaming, crying, and begging for mercy coming from the prison beyond.

He looked at Rose. She didn't flinch.

‘He's gotta be askin’ if Theo's for sale,’ Rose muttered.

The Doctor nodded. ‘He’ll be being held somewhere special,’ he said. ‘Just go along with it.’

‘Okay.’

After a few minutes, the door opened again to a cacophony of screams and cries for help. The man came back, the door closed, and the sound muted.

‘If you’re willing, ma’am, Bac’ou Bar’zelli would like to meet with you to discuss a very special deal,’ the man said, that smile still plastered on his face.

‘I hope Mr Bar’zelli doesn’t intend to waste my time,’ Rose said.

‘Oh, I think you’ll find it very productive,’ the man replied. ‘Bac’ou Bar’zelli has invited you to the Bar’zelli headquarters for further discussions on a very special trade. I’ll have you taken there by guards.’

‘Very well,’ Rose said.

* * *

They were escorted to the Bar’zelli Headquarters. Security was getting tighter and tighter with every step. The Doctor kept close to Rose and a hand on her upper arm, keeping his eyes firmly on the ground.

They reached the entrance, which was covered in airport-like security. Rose passed straight through without any checks, but the Doctor was stopped.

‘What are you doing?’ the Doctor asked quickly.

‘Shut your face, ji’ka,’ a guard sneered, and he was slapped around the head for the second time in the space of an hour.

‘What’s the meanin’ of this?’ Rose asked incredulously as three people rapidly pinned the Doctor against the wall.

‘Every ji’ka must be checked and disarmed,’ a guard replied. The Doctor panicked a little as one tried to take his fake gun and sword, and another one reached up to lower his hood and remove the scarf covering his face ...

‘Not mine,’ Rose responded, marching back through and pushing them away from the Time Lord. ‘Don’t  _ touch  _ it.’

‘I’m sorry, ma’am, but every ji’ka …’

‘What kind of place do you call this!?’ Rose snapped. ‘I’m here to discuss business with Bac’ou Bar’zelli, not to be  _ insulted!  _ If this is how he likes to treat his important guests, then I’ll take my business elsewhere! And if I find so much as a bruise on my ji’ka then I’ll be suing you personally!’

That seemed to sting a bit. One of the guards had a discussion with another, and very quickly they nodded, releasing the Doctor. They stepped aside to allow both her and the Doctor through.

They reached the other side, and the Doctor internally breathed a sigh of relief. He took Rose’s upper arm again, resuming his position two paces behind her with his gaze to the floor.

They were taken through a plethora of shining, metal corridors, which were filled with all types of aliens and their ji’kas in tow. It didn’t take long until they reached their destination - a polished, well-adorned meeting room with two large sofas and a couple of ji’kas holding trays filled with food and drink.

Bac’ou was there, waiting. He gazed at Rose momentarily, pausing. For a brief moment, the Doctor thought Bac’ou recognised Rose, and got ready to enact a contingency plan. But Bac’ou clearly didn’t - with her blonde hair grown out and no makeup, Rose looked too different, and hadn’t been enough of a priority on Bac’ou’s radar for him to bother registering. Just some collateral.

‘Good morning,’ Bac’ou greeted in a put-on posh voice, reaching out. Rose offered her hand, and he kissed it lightly. ‘My name is Bac’ou Bar’zelli.’

The Doctor took a deep breath and daringly stepped forward, bowing. ‘Might I introduce Lady of the Realm, Rose, heiress to the Achon territory on Matabullus Six,’ he said, with his voice distorted through the mask. He paused slightly, wondering if Bac’ou would recognise him like this.

Bac’ou looked at the Doctor with surprise. ‘My my, you allow your ji’ka to talk,’ he said to Rose. ‘How modern.’

Rose just smiled and took a seat. She gestured for one of the ji’kas holding the drinks to move over, and took a strangely-shaped glass from the proffered tray. Bac’ou followed suit. Rose then looked at the Doctor.

‘Kneel,’ she ordered.

The Doctor obliged quickly, dropping to his knees.

‘I called you here as I believe you are a credible buyer for a very special commodity,’ Bac’ou began, sipping at his drink. ‘We have something that fits your requirements, although the price is very high.’

‘I don’t care about money,’ Rose replied.

Bac’ou smiled. ‘We have a young hybrid male of an extremely rare species. No damage, no ji’ka band.’

‘What species?’ Rose asked.

‘A gallifreyan human hybrid, no less. It's been with us for a few months. We tried to sell it on auction but the buyers did not meet the reserve. But if you're willing to pay the appropriate sum we can most definitely discuss the possibility of trade.’

‘A gallifreyan,’ Rose mused, swirling her drink in her glass. She was playing this to perfection, the Doctor noted. ‘If I remember correctly, there’s only one Time Lord you could have got it from, and he’s dangerous. I’m not sure I fancy buyin’ a commodity that could get me killed by the Doctor.’

‘He is dead,’ Bac’ou said. ‘Don’t worry yourself.’

‘And there’s no one else comin’ for it?’

‘No,’ Bac’ou said.

Rose nodded. ‘I would like to see the ji’ka for myself.’

‘Of course,’ Bac’ou said, standing up. ‘You cannot interact with it, however. We have only controlled contact to keep it untainted.’

Rose nodded again. ‘I understand.’

* * *

The Doctor’s hearts were in his mouth as he followed Rose and Bac’ou down into the very depths of the headquarters, to a section lined with doors leading into tiny holding cells. They followed the corridor until they finally reached a room at the end on the right, where they entered a small room with a window that looked onto a modest living quarters.

There, sitting at the table, was Theo.

The Doctor stiffened slightly as his breath left him. The boy was now three months older and a little taller, with his fair blond hair now reaching down over his ears, with slightly more defined features. He was wearing some respectable clothes but with no shoes or socks, and was swinging his legs back and forth happily on the chair, colouring in something.

He looked healthy, the Doctor noted, and most importantly clean, unmarked, and happy. They hadn’t done anything to him.

Rose looked at him again. He quickly dropped to his knees once more.

‘The child has been with us for roughly three months. We have not tested it quite as thoroughly as we’d like to, as we’re afraid of causing any damage to it. However, from observation, it shows extraordinary mental capacity. Are you familiar with gallifreyans?’ Bac’ou asked Rose, sipping at his drink casually.

‘A little,’ Rose replied.

‘This one is a particularly smart one. It came here with a human language, but it's already fluent in the general Sirrus dialect. It’s able to grasp complex mathematical calculations and basic engineering. It is most definitely a long term project, and it does need caring for as it's young, but with the right schooling and nurture I believe it will make a fine ji'ka of the highest calibre and an asset to your family in Achon. However, I wouldn't recommend putting a ji’ka band on it, as it will grow for quite a few years, yet. We have studied humanoid aging rates, and our experts believe it won’t reach full maturity for somewhere around two decades, and the damage from a ji’ka band may be irreversible.’

‘Have you treated it well?’ Rose asked.

‘Yes. It has remained separated from the usual ji’ka rabble, with round-the-clock care from personal humanoid caregiving specialists and tailored education,’ Bac’ou replied. ‘It is well fed and watered, and is at the pinnacle of health.’

‘What about social skills?’ Rose asked.

‘We prescribe social skill building exercises with the young ji’kas, all of whom are checked and decontaminated before entering its room,’ Bac’ou replied. ‘It has no official designated name, but for the purposes of developing its social comprehension skills, I have personally named it Soran, after my late uncle. I must admit, it will be sad to see it go. I have become quite attached to it.’

Rose paused. The Doctor just watched Theo sitting there, colouring. His hearts were aching, with every atom in his body screaming to grab the boy and run.

‘May I see it talkin’?’ Rose asked.

Bac’ou nodded, and put down his glass. He left the small room, and a few seconds later the door of Theo's room opened.

Theo looked back at Bac'ou. ‘Uncle Bac'ou!’ he said happily, getting up and running to meet him in a hug.

'Hello Soran,’ Bac'ou said. ‘How are you?’

‘Am okay,’ Theo said happily in fluent Sirrusan. ‘Are you coming to p’ay, today?’

‘Not today, I'm a bit busy,’ Bac'ou replied. ‘I just popped in to say hello. I will come and play this evening, okay?’

‘Okay!’

The Doctor looked at Rose. A single tear rolled down her cheek. He felt it.

‘Is there anything you’d like?’ Bac’ou continued.

‘Nah,’ the little boy said. ‘Thank you, Uncle Bac’ou.’

‘I will see you this evening,’ Bac’ou said, smiling. ‘You have fun. I think one of the children are coming to play with you, today.’

‘Is it Geran?’ Theo asked keenly. His speech was so much better than what the Doctor remembered.

‘I’m not sure. I think he may have been sold.’

‘Oh,’ Theo said. ‘He was fun.’

‘I know,’ Bac’ou said, smiling. ‘But there’ll be plenty more. Remember what I told you.’

‘They’re s’aves so they’re non-people,’ Theo said, like it was some sort of mantra.

Bac’ou nodded. ‘Exactly - non-people. They aren’t worth you caring about.’

The burning hatred for Bac’ou momentarily boiled up inside the Doctor, but he quickly suppressed it as the alien hugged Theo, and left the room. Seconds later, he re-emerged into the small room he and Rose were in, and took his glass.

‘He’s very smart,’ Rose commented.

‘Indeed,’ Bac'ou agreed. ‘It seems to be above average even for a gallifreyan.’

‘I like what I see. I’ll take it,’ Rose said.

Bac’ou smiled. ‘We do require payment in advance. I am looking for something within the region of five billion credits.’

‘I’ll contact Achon immediately,’ Rose said, and looked at the Doctor. ‘How long until the money can be transferred, ji’ka?’

‘It may take until tomorrow morning to clear, mistress,’ the Doctor replied, and looked back at his small son. To his complete surprise, Theo was now in front of the window, his tiny hand resting on the pane that separated them, with those familiar brown eyes staring widely in. Theo wouldn’t be able to see or hear them, the Doctor reasoned, but somehow - some way - maybe he could sense them?

Or maybe he could sense his new Uncle Bac’ou.

No one else noticed Theo had moved. Bac’ou nodded at Rose, sipping at his drink again. ‘Of course. We can offer you quarters for the night while I review the offer.’

‘Review?’ Rose echoed. ‘I thought we had a deal, here.’

‘You do have a rival bidder,’ Bac’ou said. ‘I feel in the circumstances it’s only fair for us to have an auction.’

‘Maybe we could sweeten this deal,’ Rose said suddenly. ‘I want this ji’ka. I’ll double the price.’

Bac'ou laughed. ‘We'll discuss it further tomorrow.’ His eyes drifted to the Doctor. ‘We have a large sleeping area for ji’kas, and a complementary ji’ka cleaning service for our visitors.’

‘My ji’kas don’t live in squallor, thank you,’ Rose replied. ‘My ji’ka will stay in my quarters and provided with the highest quality of food and drink.’

‘Excellent,’ Bac’ou said, genuinely happy. ‘I think I will be very happy to sell the young ji’ka to you.’

* * *

‘We found him,’ Rose breathed as she and the Doctor laid back together on an extravagant bed in what had to be the best sleeping quarters the Bar’zellis had - adorned from top to bottom in expensive pictures, carvings, and the most high-quality of fabrics.

‘He’s healthy, too,’ the Doctor added.

‘Oh god, we’re so close,’ Rose moaned. ‘When are we gonna get him out?’

‘Tonight,’ the Doctor replied immediately. ‘As soon as it’s quiet. We’ll go down, get him, and get out. We can’t stay here much longer. Bac’ou’s not stupid. And I don’t fancy you having to face off against a rival bidder with money we can’t deliver on.’

‘Okay,’ she replied.

‘You should get some sleep,’ the Doctor advised. ‘I’ll wake you up.’

‘I can’t sleep,’ Rose replied. ‘God, I want him, right now, Doctor. I want him back.’

‘So do I,’ the Doctor muttered.

He turned over, and held her. She held him in return, and for three hours they stayed put, waiting for the darkness to arrive.

* * *

When the sound of life in the HQ had died, the Doctor and Rose got up and left the room to head back down to the cells via the route the Doctor had memorised. There weren’t many guards about, and getting there wasn’t too much of a problem. They reached the exterior door to the cells, and the Doctor held up a hand to stop Rose.

‘Stay here and keep watch,’ he said. ‘I’ll get him and bring him back out.’

She nodded. He entered the door to the corridor of the cell block. He jogged to Theo's room, peeking through the observatory window. The boy was asleep on the bed.

Glancing around for any observers, he pulled out his sonic and anxiously ran it down the number pad over every single digit to decode the lock. Halfway through, the sound of a door opening came from his right around the corner, and voices started talking. A guard patrol?

Deciding not to have a face-off, he looked around quickly for somewhere to hide. He saw the empty cell opposite Theo’s room and ran to it, grabbing the hand wheel and rapidly turning it to open the door, before diving inside into the dark and cold. He pushed the door to be only slightly ajar, so he could see a slice of the corridor. 

The footsteps and voices became louder. One of the people, he recognised, was Bac’ou. 

‘Honestly, that jai’kl thinks I'm stupid! It's actually insulting! He’s wandered straight in here thinking I wouldn't even notice!’ Bac’ou said as they came into sight. He was talking to some guard. ‘As if he thinks some crackpot story about some Lady wanting a ji’ka is gonna fool me.’

They were talking about him, the Doctor realised. Immediately he started panicking. Rose was still on the door they were heading straight towards.

‘What are you going to do about him?’ the guard asked.

Bac’ou suddenly smiled a smile that chilled the Doctor’s hearts a little. ‘Do? I don't have to do anything. He'll come to me. He’s gonna come straight here to get his precious son and steal him out from under my nose because he thinks he’s way too clever for me.’

The Doctor held his breath as they stopped in the middle of the corridor, in front of his door. A familiar sense of foreboding began to rise in him.

‘When?’ the guard asked.

‘When?’ Bac’ou smirked. ‘Around about ten minutes ago, and now he should be standing … right here.’

Bac’ou suddenly turned and pushed open the door of the cell the Doctor was in. The Doctor stumbled backwards, ending up on the floor as he looked up to Bac’ou, towering over him.

‘Hey, Doctor,’ Bac’ou greeted. ‘It’s so fulaking nice to see you again.’

He pulled back his foot, and kicked the Doctor directly in the head.

Everything went black.


	20. The Day She Walked Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor is captured by Bac’ou.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't a happy chapter. If you're hoping for happiness, run away now. Cos happiness ain't here.

_ ‘Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs of prisoners normal. 1:26am,’  _ a disembodied male voice said, bringing the Doctor back to consciousness.

The Doctor eased open his eyes, his head aching a little. He groaned quietly, pushing himself up to his elbows and rubbing his eyes to try and get them to focus. His vision swirled a little, but he could see through his throbbing eyesight that he was in another cell, and in front of him was a man he was seriously beginning to loathe, smiling down at him.

'Hello, Doctor,’ Bac'ou greeted with his eyes narrowed, flanked by two of his cronies. 

The Doctor forced himself up to his knees, checking himself. He wasn't bound or chained in anyway - just a single bright red ji'ka band on his left wrist.

'Going to sell me?’ the Doctor wondered, gripping the band with his finger and thumb and pulling to test its integrity. It held very firm.

'No,’ Bac'ou answered.

'No?’ the Doctor echoed.

‘Well, no point really, is there? I sell you, you get carted off, you break out, and then you'll come right back here. I just can't be arsed. Why, did you want me to?’

The Doctor ignored him, getting to his feet. However, Bac'ou's cronies immediately pointed their guns at him, so he stayed obediently on his knees. ‘Where's Rose?’

‘The human woman? A few cells down,’ Bac'ou replied. 'I'll deal with her later.’

‘Let her go.’

‘I might do,’ Bac'ou answered, a little surprisingly. 'But we'll see how nice you are.’

'Just let them go,’ the Doctor demanded. 'Her and my son. Don't sell them into slavery. Sell me instead. A lot of people will pay a lot for me.’

Bac’ou smiled. 'You’re so stupid. The boy was never up for sale.’

‘What?’

'It was a trap for you. If there's one thing I know about you, Doctor, it's that you don't die very well. So I put a few false news items out and put an entry in the logbook in the Forum. As soon as I heard two humanoids had been messing around on the Hivernian docks it didn't take a lot to know you were coming. No. Your son is worth more to me than money. I’ve got  _ big  _ plans. He’s staying with me.’

'You want an heir,’ the Doctor realised, wide-eyed. 'You want my son to be your heir.’

Bac'ou nodded. ‘There was no one to take over what my family’s built over sixty-three generations. And then Soran arrived. I've been shaping him, building him. One day he'll run the Bar’zelli organisation.’

The Doctor stared at him, panicking a little. ‘You can't do this,’ he said breathlessly. ‘He's my son!’

‘Not anymore,’ Bac'ou replied simply.

'Please, do anything to me. I don't care. Sell me, torture me, I'll run your organisation quietly without fighting you ... Just let him and Rose go.’

Bac'ou seemed to seriously consider that, so the Doctor pressed on.

‘I'll expand the Bar'zelli territory. You know I can, Bac'ou. I'll be your assassin; your general; your adviser - I'll do whatever you want. Just let him and my wife go. Drop them off on Earth - anywhere you like -  _ please _ .’ 

He paused, letting it hang in the air for a moment. 

_ ‘Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs of prisoners normal. 1:29am.’ _

‘Do we have a deal?’ the Doctor asked quickly.

Bac'ou turned his head, gazing at him. ‘Oh, look what I've done to you,’ he teased, a smile spreading on his face. ‘You know what I'd make you do if you were actually serious, Doctor. Things you won't like very much.’

'I am,’ the Doctor said firmly. ‘I'll do anything.’

‘Anything?’ 

_ ‘Anything.’ _

Bac'ou paused again, and then laughed. ‘See that wrist band you're wearing?’

The Doctor looked down at his left wrist at the bright red ji'ka band.

‘I designed these ji'ka bands. I'm quite proud. Every single ji'ka band is made out of reinforced kromanian alloy using a fusling allotrope coating, with a bit of neon for colour,’ he said. 'We produce these in bulk to sell and here in the forum we sell a ji'ka every minute in fifty locations with the band. There are five million of these active on ji'kas across the universe.’

‘What do you want, “Designer of the Year” award?’ the Doctor asked, starting to get frustrated. ‘Answer my proposal.’

‘Yes, I want an award,’ Bac'ou replied smoothly. 'Because when I made the prototype of the band, I realised that I was gonna need some insurance. Just in case a buyer tried to cut me short, you know? So I put something inside every single ji'ka band. Hidden away. A tiny blade, made of tetrine steel and covered in poison. At one touch of a button, I could kill every single ji'ka across this planet almost instantly. I've got access to a transmitter that can cover three solar systems. Every ji’ka in that radius would die. This is the button.’

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slim white box that was pulsing with a small green light, holding it up to the Time Lord.

'What d’you think, Doctor?’ Bac'ou asked, flipping the device between his fingers.

‘I'm not sure what you want me to say,’ the Doctor replied, gazing at him with narrowed eyes.

Bac'ou smiled. 'I just wanted you to know what I can do. You should respect me. Now you know what I can do. I can kill ten million slaves with one button.’

‘And that's supposed to make you clever?’ the Doctor grated.

Bac'ou smiled. ‘... You know what?’ he said, and held out the remote. ‘Let's play a game. I'll let your son and your human female go and I'll never bother them again. But you have to do one thing for me. Press this button.’

The Doctor looked at the remote, suddenly feeling very cold.

‘Kill five million people, including yourself, and I'll let your family go,’ he reiterated, and threw the remote at the Doctor, who was forced to awkwardly catch it. ‘It's your choice.’

‘You're lying,’ the Doctor said firmly. ‘Nothing will happen if I press this.’

‘There’s only one way to find out ain’t there?’ Bac’ou pointed out, still smiling.

The Doctor looked at the remote in his hands, and then at Bac’ou. Bac’ou’s expression was completely impassive. 

This situation felt very familiar.

_ ‘Temperature 14 degrees celsius. Life signs normal. 1:30am.’ _

‘No,’ the Doctor decided, and threw the remote back at him. ‘I’m not playing this game.’

‘Just like I thought,’ Bac'ou said happily. He then raised the smaller remote and without a pause he pressed the button. Immediately the Doctor felt a dull pain in his wrist. He looked down, and saw the band had changed colour, turning black. The blade had been ejected.

‘Now hurry up and die,’ Bac'ou said, checking his watch. ‘I'm not leaving until you're dead, jai’kl. And by the way, do it quietly. Unless you want your son to hear you screaming.’

The Doctor suddenly felt a pricking, burning sensation in his wrist, which rapidly heated up and started spreading into his hand. He bit back a yell with the suddenness of the pain as he flipped his hand, where the veins on the back were turning blood red.

The pain started to feel like fire through his blood vessels as every single one in his hand reddened. The fire then suddenly started moving up his arm as his hand turned completely numb, and the redness started spreading along his forearm and up towards his elbow …

He looked up at Bac'ou, who was smiling. 'What is this!?’ the Doctor gasped.

‘Highly concentrated spit,’ Bac'ou answered. 

‘That drug everyone uses!?’ the Doctor realised, gripping his arm and staring at the veins in his wrist slowly turning red to match his numb hand.

‘Chose it myself for the ji'ka bands,’ Bac'ou informed him casually. ‘High concentrations are pretty catastrophic for …’

The Doctor forced himself to his feet as the poison continued to creep up his arm, with the pain increasing every second. ‘I'll regenerate,’ he interrupted, his voice starting to grate.

'That depends on if you  _ want  _ your human mate to be sold into slavery or not,’ Bac'ou replied. ‘And it also depends if you  _ want _ me to hunt down your daughter and sell her into slavery too. Cos I will.’

The Doctor couldn't answer that.

'Now get back on your knees,’ Bac'ou demanded. 

Knowing he had absolutely no cards left to play, the Doctor sank to his knees again. The red fire was now reaching his elbow …

‘What shall I tell the universe the Doctor's last words were?’ Bac'ou asked.

The Doctor did nothing but pant, clinging onto his arm. Blood was now forcing its way out from under the ji'ka band, running round his wrist, down the back of his hand and dripping off of his knuckles onto the stone floor. He realised the blade had been deep enough to puncture his artery. 

‘Nothing?’ Bac’ou wondered.

‘This isn't over,’ the Doctor finally gasped.

Bac'ou smiled. 'Oh, it really is.’

As the spit in his bloodstream progressed he collapsed sideways, still clinging onto his arm as he curled up on the floor, unable to stop himself crying out, whimpering. He looked up at Bac’ou, who was slowly turning fuzzy, but he could still see that smile.

‘Don't worry,’ Bac’ou’s voice said, sounding strangely distant. ‘I'll look after your kid.’

Suddenly an explosion ripped out from somewhere nearby, close enough to throw Bac'ou and his cronies off of their feet. The Doctor jolted, momentarily brought back to clarity as Bac’ou jumped up, looking around in alarm.

‘What was that!?’ Bac'ou cried, looking at his guards.

There was a scream that shot right through the cells. 'No … no …  _ please!’ _

Bac’ou glanced at him, and ran out of the room with his guards in hot pursuit, leaving the door open. The Doctor could see flashing lights reflecting on the stone walls - deep red and pulsating as the sirens started. 

_ 'Alert. Alert. Security breach. Security breach.‘ _

Someone else screamed. That had been Rose. He saw the body of one of the guards fly past the door with his body twisted unnaturally, gripped in some sort of red light.

‘Rose,’ he gasped out.

He  _ had _ to get up.

He took a huge, whimpering breath and pushed himself back to his knees, still holding his arm, shaking a little with his knuckles turning pure white. His arm felt like it was in an inferno, with searing pain shooting up and scattering into his chest like little fiery bullets from a spray gun, puncturing his skin and burying themselves deep inside.

He slammed his eyes shut, forcing himself to concentrate and  _ focus _ with mental calculations. Judging by the speed of the poison and the rate he was bleeding, if he didn't do something he was going to be dead in ten minutes, and he didn’t have time to regenerate.

He looked down at his arm. The redness was now beyond his elbow and his hand was slick with blood. It hurt even more as he looked at it. 

He frantically pulled off the thin scarf still around his neck, and hung it over his upper arm. He grabbed one end of the scarf in his teeth and wound the other end around and around his arm as tightly as possible, tying it off in the middle. He then pulled out his sonic and pushed it into the strap, turning it to increase the tightness as far as it would go, and then securing it in place.

It hurt, but not as much as the rest of him.

Tourniquet applied, he swayed and groaned to get to an upright position, and staggered forward to the open door. He tripped and fell out of it, ending up on the ground as he heard another explosion and the cries of people around him. He got up again, refocusing on what was in front of him. A corridor with some even brighter light flickering on the walls at the far end like something was on fire.

That, he realised in his dampened mind, wasn’t only where Rose seemed to be, but it was also Theo’s corridor.

_ ‘Temperature 102 degrees celsius. Life signs unstable. Alert in progress. Evacuate the area. 1:34am.’ _

Panicking, he lurched forward to get to the end. It seemed to take forever. As he reached the corner, he saw the corridor stretched out in front of him was nearly  _ consumed _ in flames. Guards were running around, and there were more people in the cells, hammering on their windows in desperation, trapped inside, looking at him and begging to be freed. But with his sonic preventing him from being poisoned and bleeding to death, he hated that he couldn’t help them.

‘What  _ is  _ she!?’ he heard one of the guards scream.

He barely registered that. He continued forward, lumbering; searching for Theo and Rose.

‘Theo ...’ he cried desperately, but his voice had significantly weakened. ‘Rose …’

He navigated his way blindly around the numerous fires, and then reached Theo’s room. The door had been jarred by the explosion, and through the crack he could see the little boy sitting there in the corner of the room, curled up and hugging his knees in the foetal position. 

He tried the door, but it had been so bent out of shape it wasn’t shifting, and the fire was edging closer with the smoke starting to fill Theo’s room. Instead, the Doctor moved to the observation room next to it, and tried that door. 

It opened. He staggered in, and tripped up again as another explosion rang out. He threw himself up, went to the window, and compelled by the sight of his son coughing in the smoke he started planting his foot repeatedly into the glass to try and break it. 

Nothing happened, despite his desperation. He threw himself bodily at it a couple of times. Still nothing.

_ ‘Temperature 204 degrees celsius. Life signs unstable. Alert in progress. Evacuate the area. 1:37am.’ _

He could now see the fire lapping at Theo’s door, and the room was bathed in smoke. He could only watch, mortified as Theo seemed to stop crying and coughing and fell limp.

‘No!’ he screamed. 

He realised he needed his sonic.

Despite knowing he’d die, he pulled it out of its position holding the tourniquet and sonicked the window. The glass instantaneously shattered as the fire seemed to jump to get through the gaps in the door.

The Doctor fell through the broken window and into Theo’s room, landing awkwardly on his ankle and only just about managing to stop himself dropping face first into the glass. His ankle surged with more pain, but it was nothing compared to the inferno in his arm. 

He dared to glance at his wrist. He was bleeding  _ extremely _ heavily. 

It was then he realised his mistake. The tourniquet was now only constricting his veins, stopping the poison from getting into his system, but his arteries were allowed to deliver blood to his arm. His blood loss had spiralled. The only thing possibly buying him some time was the ji'ka band, ironically.

Everything was rapidly becoming extremely hazy. He was on his knees before he even reached Theo, before he finally collapsed to the ground, gasping. He pulled himself to the boy. Theo was still breathing, but how long for?

Someone arrived in a strangely calm manner from behind him, stepping from the observation room onto the glass. Still lying on the ground, he recognised the shoe.

Rose.

He looked up at her. She was staring at Theo, as if the Doctor wasn’t even there.

‘Rose,’ the Doctor managed to get out, relief flooding him.

Rose completely ignored him. She strode calmly to Theo, and knelt down in front of him, checking his lifesigns. Satisfied, she brushed back his hair, kissed his forehead, and held him.

‘Rose,’ the Doctor tried again. 

After a moment, she pulled back. She didn’t look at the Doctor, and neither did she raise her voice, but he heard every word.

‘It hasn’t worked.’

‘What?’ the Doctor gasped, still on the ground.

‘I thought gettin’ Theo back would make it better.’

‘Make what ... better!?’ he managed as he felt his body grow weaker and weaker.

Rose ignored him and hugged the unconscious boy again. ‘It’s not better, it’s not better … make it stop, Doctor.’

The Doctor fought against the black wave of unconsciousness, desperate to stay awake. ‘I will, I will … just tell me ... what’s w-wrong. But w-we have to … To run first …’

She let go of Theo once more, and with a short and sharp turn of her head, Rose finally looked at him. 

Her jaw was set. Her face had utterly no expression. Her eyes were so cold.

He barely recognised her.

‘What …’ he managed, squirming as she simply stepped back over him and headed to the broken window to leave. 

He couldn’t understand.

‘Rose, p-please,’ he whined, his eyes filling up from the smoke, the pain, and the sheer shock. 

She paused, turning to look back at him, with the image of her swaying in his warped, weak vision. A weird smell washed over him. That sandalwood scent he'd met a few times before.

'H-help us,’ he begged.

Without a word, she stepped out, and then disappeared into the flames.

‘No … R-Rose …’ he moaned, but he could barely even breathe anymore.

_ ‘Temperature 457 degrees celsius. Life signs failing. Alert in progress. Evacuate the area. 1:39am,’  _ the voice said over the sound of distant, tortured screams.

The last thing he saw was his beautiful fourteen-month-old son becoming completely obscured by the smoke.


	21. Memento Mori

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor realises the absurd truth of his situation.

_ ‘Temperature 457 degrees celsius. Life signs failing. Alert in progress. Evacuate the area. 1:39am.’ _

The Doctor opened his eyes, finding himself still lying on the bed in the dream world. A phone was ringing somewhere in the distance, but he ignored it as a single, sharp, striking thought entered his head and lodged itself firmly at the forefront of his consciousness. A vicious, sharp truth that genuinely hurt his hearts.

Rose had left them to die.

That didn’t make any sense, the Doctor thought. That sentence. It was just some words combined into a specific arrangement to be grammatically pleasing. There wasn’t any real meaning in them ... because there  _ couldn’t _ be.

How could Rose leaving them to die make any sense whatsoever?

Maybe he was misremembering. Maybe she'd just gone off to get some tool to help.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to recall what had happened next after Rose had left. 

He couldn’t remember anything at all.

Surely he’d been saved? Had Jack finally got there?

Hold on, he thought. Jack said he’d followed them to Sirrus from Earth. Jack  _ couldn’t  _ have followed them. They were billions of years in the future, and Jack couldn’t time travel. Six billion years between them … why hadn’t he questioned Jack saying that?

_ ‘Temperature 457 degrees celsius. Life signs failing. Alert in progress. Evacuate the area. 1:39am.’ _

That voice. That voice had been in the Bar’zelli cells. 

Things were now making even less sense. The stories everyone had been telling him across these worlds suddenly weren’t quite so believable or valid. It was as though his brain had just accepted it all to protect him from something. But he wasn’t quite sure what that something was.

He couldn’t just lie here anymore. He had to do something.

He got up, and immediately noticed the sky outside the window had considerably darkened and reddened, like a ferocious sunset. There was also a storm brewing. He hopped to the door and tested it again. He wasn’t expecting it to open, so was delightfully surprised when it did. He moved out into the corridor, which was unnervingly quiet, dark, and looked incredibly foreboding, like a castle where Dracula would live. As soon as he thought that, there was a crash of thunder outside.

‘Hello?’ he called. His voice seemed to stop travelling abruptly, as though it had somehow fallen out of the air upon leaving his mouth.

He noticed that the phone he’d heard earlier was still ringing. He followed the noise to the end of the corridor, where he opened a pair of creaky, heavy wooden doors into a large, mainly featureless room. It was empty, besides an old fashioned telephone in the centre, sitting on a wooden stand in front of a large window.

He checked the surroundings, but no one was there. He moved forward and reached out to pick it up, but stopped dead as he saw his wrist.

The manacles that had previously bound him were now removed, and he could see a long and deep horizontal gouge in his wrist, clearly deep enough to be right through the artery.

There was no blood besides what was already on him. But of course, why would there be? Because there was nothing left to bleed. Because ...

The Doctor paused as he realised; piecing everything together as thunder cracked from somewhere outside the room in the swirling storm beyond.

‘... I’m dead,’ he said.

He paused, just taking that in, dropping his wrist limply to his side.

He couldn’t remember anything else that had happened on Sirrus, because there was nothing  _ to  _ remember. 

He'd just remembered how he’d died.

‘How sad,’ a voice suddenly said from behind him. 

He turned to meet the Lanwa Rose. ‘You made Rose kill me,’ he spat.

She just smiled. 

He approached her boldly. ‘Tell me what’s really going on,’ he demanded. ‘How long ago did I die?’

‘You died eight minutes ago, my darlin’.’

‘So what’s this place supposed to be? The afterlife?’ the Doctor challenged.

She looked genuinely puzzled for a moment, tapping her chin. ‘Oh, how to make this into an analogy you’ll understand,’ she mused. ‘Um, well ... y’know how when people get guillotined, there’s this little bit of activity in their faces for a few minutes, yeah? Like they’re still awake and can see you and know they’ve just been killed?’

‘Yes,’ the Doctor said simply. ‘It’s the last of the electrical brain activity before it runs out of oxygenated blood.’

‘Well … that’s where you are. Surprise!’ she said happily, striking a pose with an insincere smile.

He gazed at her momentarily as his mind raced. ‘I’ve been flashing back through my last moments - my life flashing in front of my eyes. I’m a prisoner inside my own death throes.’

‘Yes, you are,’ she agreed. 

‘This entire place, and the world with Jack and the SUV … it’s just all my own nightmare. I’ve been playing all of the characters here,’ the Doctor realised. ‘That’s how Jack knew things the real Jack doesn’t know. That’s why I could hear that voice from the Bar’zelli cells. That’s why I just accepted all of the lies. So that makes  _ you  _ just a part of my imagination,’ he presumed. ‘Something I made up.’

‘I’m afraid not. I’m real. Sorry,’ she said. ‘You’re still carrying my disease in you, and you’re still bonded to Rose. You’re still connected. And I can use that connection to get into your head whenever I want.’

‘Only inside my dreams,’ the Doctor pointed out.  _ ‘Not  _ whenever you want.’

‘Spoilsport,’ she said.

‘Wait a minute. That’s why I did this,’ the Doctor suddenly said, wide-eyed. ‘The moment I died, I realised what you were and what you’d done to Rose. I also knew that this would happen; that you’d try to take me over at the point of death - that’s why you wanted my real body so much. You want me to give in and become a vessel for you. Because that’s the jackpot, isn’t it? Infecting me. But I knew it. I knew all of it. 

‘So in half a second as I died, I made a plan. I knew I was going to lose my memories when I died, so I made up this little scenario with my own little characters to trick you. Trick you into believing that whole story that there’s some sort of Dream Guardian and real body plan going, when there’s not. There never  _ has  _ been. This has all just been me buying time. This is me in regenerative limbo.’

‘What?’ she asked, finally looking a little bit uncomfortable. 

‘What you’ve forgotten is that this is  _ my  _ head and you’re just a guest,’ he explained. ‘Yes, my Dream Guardian  _ can  _ kill you, but he doesn’t exist here. He only exists in Rose’s mind. He was only ever an idea. Letting me die doesn’t help you, because you can’t kill an idea. For as long as Rose is somewhere inside you and believes that I’ll save her, he exists only in the head you’ve taken over.’

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him, slightly ferociously.

‘Sorry,’ the Doctor said chirpily, reflecting her insincere smile. He then gazed straight into her eyes, looking past her to something he hoped was still lingering inside. ‘Rose. I know you’re still in there, so listen. I’m going to save you. I’m going to wake up, and then find you, and save you from this. I promise I’m coming back to save you. Just hold on. I love you.’

The Lanwa looked at him momentarily, and then laughed. ‘You’ve totally missed the point.’

‘I don’t think I have,’ the Doctor replied.

‘You  _ can’t  _ save her _ ,’  _ she stressed. ‘You’re  _ dead,  _ Doctor. I’m givin’ you an alternative. Either you can lie there and die for good, or you can open up and join me and Rose. You might be infected, but at least you’ll be together.’

‘Then  _ you’ve  _ missed the point,’ the Doctor answered casually. ‘Because I knew I’d be saved. I’ve known all along. I’ve been waiting all this time because I  _ knew  _ I was going to be saved.’

‘There is  _ no one  _ to save you.’

He smiled. ‘I’ve got nine hundred years of space travel. I’ve met millions upon millions of species. I know how people work. I know how their minds work. I’m a very good judge of character. Back in the boathouse where Theo was kidnapped and I was shot, I planted a seed in a man’s head of being free. Now, he’s taken me up on it, and saved me and Theo.’

‘That Bar’zelli agent that shot you? You don’t know that!’ she hissed.

‘It’s already happened.’ The Doctor nodded to the phone. It was still ringing. ‘You don’t control this world. I do. I put this phone here. It’s a connection to the outside. It’s - quite literally - a lifeline. And I’m answering.’

He picked up the phone and held it to his ear.

‘I’m ready.’

* * *

He suddenly felt repeated pressures on his chest, like an elephant had decided to use his ribs as a trampoline unannounced. He squirmed, screamed, and finally his entire body seemed to throw itself forward, and he snapped open his eyes to meet the incredibly blurry sight of Jack and Martha kneeling over him, both wide-eyed and terrified.

‘Fuck!’ Jack swore, drawing back from CPR. ‘You're alive!’

The Doctor just gasped in air desperately, feeling sweat pouring down his face. He felt so, so cold.

'I got you, I got you!’ Jack said quickly, pulling off his coat and throwing it over the Time Lord. ‘Stay with us!’

Martha immediately started examining him. 'He's in shock,’ she said anxiously, checking his airways. 'Don’t worry. You’re safe. Can you understand me?’

The Doctor was so woozy he didn't really comprehend what she was saying. She forced an oxygen mask onto his face. 

‘Can you understand me?’ she repeated.

‘Muh …’ the Doctor slurred out through the oxygen mask, looking around weakly, before trying to get up. But he didn’t seem to be able to move.

‘Stay still. You’ve been dead for nearly ten minutes, and you’ve lost a serious amount of blood, but you’re going to be okay,’ Martha said quickly, resting a hand on his shoulder to pin him down. 

The Doctor just about registered that he was lying on the floor of the Tourist Information Centre that served as the fake entrance to Torchwood. He looked down at his left arm. It, and his left side, were entirely covered in his own blood. He looked like some B movie horror film victim, he thought.

A thought that seemed relevant hit him. ‘Marfa,’ he drawled. ‘Poy-sen.’

‘Poison?’ Martha asked quickly. ‘Is there poison in your arm?’

‘Poy-sen,’ he repeated.

‘Okay, I understand. Stay with me,’ Martha urged. ‘Jack, keep applying pressure on his wrist. Ianto!’ she shouted somewhere off to the side. ‘Get every single one of his blood bags! Gwen! Call Unit, we need an ambulance right now! And  _ don’t  _ let Leah in here!’

The Doctor had such a desire to fall asleep, but he forced himself to stay awake. He had this overwhelming feeling that something terrible would happen if he went to sleep.

Despite this, things abruptly became even more out of focus, and he found himself slipping between states of awareness. He was vaguely sure at one point he was in an ambulance, and then in a large, clean room full of metal. Faces were coming and going in a slightly terrifying blur of demented clown-like expressions and snippets of sentences that made little to no sense whatsoever.

_ ‘... Not without the …’ _

_ ‘... Seventy percent …’ _

_ ‘... Severe trauma …’ _

_ ‘Doctor?’ _

_ ‘... Half-hour obs …’ _

_ ‘... Understanding the complexity …’ _

_ ‘... Eight minutes …’ _

_ ‘Daddy.’ _

_ ‘... Blood replication …’ _

_ ‘... Continued consciousness …’ _

_ ‘... Skin bundles …’ _

_ ‘Doctor. You’re going to be okay.’ _

* * *

Eventually, he came to some sort of awareness. He blinked a few times, trying to get a little focus, but it didn’t really work. 

Someone threw themselves into his vision. He blinked again as a noise registered in his ears, though it almost sounded like the person speaking was underwater. A couple more seconds, and suddenly everything swirled rapidly into indistinct focus. He found himself lying in a white room with some sort of beeping noise to his left - or was that his right? - with something on his face. He realised that Jack was looking down at him. He opened his mouth to say something, but his body was even too tired to do that.

Finally, the underwater speech became sharper. ‘Can you remember who you are?’

The Doctor frowned briefly. Of course he knew. What sort of question was that? Had Jack forgotten his name?

‘Just tell me your name,’ Jack persisted.

He couldn’t really reply, and frankly, if Jack couldn’t remember his name, then he wasn’t sure why he should bother.

Jack looked away across the room at something. ‘D’you think he has brain damage?’

‘I don’t know,’ a woman answered. Martha. ‘I don’t know if we got him here quick enough.’

I’m still lying here, you know, he thought bitterly. 

Jack looked back at him. ‘I just want you to say your name.’

Finally, the Doctor’s mouth seemed to start working, as though the connections between his brain and his body were beginning to remember how to work together again. ‘You know my name,’ he managed to say, although he was sure it hadn’t really come out as intended.

‘Shit,’ Jack said, glancing across the room again. ‘He can’t talk. He’s got brain damage.’

Martha appeared in his vision. ‘It’s okay, might just take coordination a while to re-establish itself. Anything’s possible with his biology.’

The Doctor  _ really  _ wished they’d stop talking about him in the third person. ‘Where’s Theo?’ he tried to say.

‘Just relax,’ Jack said and looked at Martha again. ‘Think he can understand us?’

‘Maybe,’ she said. 

Jack nodded and looked at the Doctor once more. ‘I’m here, and Martha’s here. You're safe. We’re not going anywhere.’ 

‘If you want to go into a healing coma, you can,’ Martha added. ‘We’ll look after you.’

That, the Doctor thought, was a  _ brilliant  _ idea. There were no dreams there.

* * *

The Doctor opened his eyes, feeling considerably less light-headed than before. He took in a gasp of air and recognised the white room he'd been in previously with Martha and Jack.

He did feel better, but still fairly rotten. He was starving from the healing coma but was also fairly sure he'd throw up if he ate anything. His ankle hurt, his head hurt, and his muscles felt like dead weight on his bones. But at least he seemed to be thinking clearly, now.

It was quiet, apart from the distant sounds of people moving around and birdsong coming from a slightly open window. He was alone - but not for long. The door opened, and he suddenly saw Jackie standing there, immediately looking astonished at the sight of him.

‘Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry, I just had to nip to the loo,’ Jackie said, rushing to him and taking his right hand tightly. ‘It's okay, you're in hospital. Me, Martha, and Jack are all 'ere. You've been ‘urt, but you're gonna be fine.’

‘What happened?’ he asked, glad to find his words seemed to make sense on the way out, now.

‘You’re in hospital, you were hurt badly,’ she said. ‘D’you remember?’

He nodded. ‘Yeah … I died,’ he said. ‘She killed me.’

‘Who did?’

He looked at Jackie as the vision of Rose washed into his mind. He couldn’t do this. Not now. So he changed the subject. ‘Where’s Theo?’

‘He’s in Torchwood, sweetheart, with his sister. He had some smoke inhalation, but he’s okay. Leah knows you're 'ere. She's been to see you.’

'I think I heard her,’ the Doctor realised. ‘I … I need to … see them.’ He groaned and tried to get up, but rapidly realised that his left arm didn’t seem to want to move. He looked down and saw it was heavily bandaged with several tubes running in and out.

‘Stay still,’ Jackie said. ‘Else Martha’ll go mad. Both kids are okay, they’re waitin’ for you to go home. You just need to rest.’

‘I want to go now,’ the Doctor said, trying his left arm again. It still wasn’t moving.

Jackie noticed what he was doing. ‘Oh, sweetheart. Let me get Martha and Jack. I’ll be back in a minute. Just stay here.’

She left quickly. He immediately pushed himself to sit up with his right arm with a fair amount of effort and pulled back the bedsheets to check himself over. Besides his arm, his ankle was in a cast as well, and he could see his reflection in the window to the left. He looked just as he had when he'd been dreaming - slightly damaged but reasonably intact. His hair was a little long, and he was growing out a beard. He also looked as tired as he felt. 

Alongside this, he was attached to what seemed like a million machines, all of which were making annoying and repetitive noises. He started trying to disconnect himself, but everything was very secure, and his co-ordination was leaving a lot to be desired.

‘Was he talking to you?’ he heard Martha say from outside the room as footsteps neared.

‘Yeah, he said 'e remembers bein’ dead. He also wants to see Leah and Theo,’ Jackie replied. ‘He hasn’t said anythin’ about Rose, yet.’

‘Don’t worry, give him some time,’ Martha replied, and the door opened. She saw him sitting there, struggling with his oxygen mask. ‘Hey,’ she said, moving to him. ‘Stop. Relax.’

He looked at Martha, Jack, and Jackie, still trying to pull the mask off. Jack moved to him, taking a seat beside the Time Lord and pulling his hand away to stop him removing it.

‘Do you recognise us?’ Jack asked.

‘I’m hardly likely to forget you lot,’ the Doctor muttered, rubbing his head. Everyone smiled with relief, as though some sort of long lingering fear had been immediately removed. ‘How long have I been here?’

‘We brought you here from Torchwood a week ago,’ Martha told him. ‘You've been in a healing coma. What do you remember?’

The Doctor swallowed momentarily, glancing at Jackie as again the thought of Rose rushed through his head. 'I was in the fire, then I was on the floor in Torchwood,’ he said. 

Martha nodded. ‘You died for nearly ten minutes. You were so badly hurt we had to get you to hospital. Unit’s here for protection. Sorry. The secret of you not being dead is out.’

‘How did I get to Torchwood?’ he asked.

‘One of the Bar’zellis just appeared with you and Theo - the one who didn’t get killed in Torchwood,’ Jack explained. ‘He's back in Torchwood, waiting to talk to you. Apparently, you offered him a deal and he wants to take it. Make sense?’

The Doctor nodded. ‘Yeah.’

‘He told us what’s happened,’ Jack continued. ‘About you getting shot and Theo getting abducted. Where’s Rose?’

The Doctor ignored the question as he tried to move his left arm again. No response. 'Martha, I can't move my arm.’

It went a bit quiet. Too quiet. He looked up at Martha, who was pulling an expression that meant nothing positive. She sat down on the end of the bed and steeled herself.

‘You’ve … got severe nerve damage and reduced circulation to your left arm. When you got to Torchwood you’d lost 70 percent of your blood volume, you were deeply in shock, and like I said, you were dead. It took so long to restore the blood flow that … well. You can read the medical report. I’m sorry.’

He looked at his arm again. ‘So, I’m paralysed,’ he summed up.

‘We could do some examinations and maybe try further surgery to try and repair this,’ Martha said. ‘But your biology is so complex, we just don’t have the technology to be sure we can help. Whatever that poison did to you, it’s partially destroyed everything inside, and you’re getting hardly any blood to that area. I don’t want to be too hasty, but I’d … I’ll probably eventually be making a suggestion to look into having your arm amputated as a prevention measure.’

‘No,’ the Doctor replied immediately. 

‘I know it’s a weird thought, but … you’re extremely susceptible to infection. In the meantime, your arm could die separately to the rest of you, and we can’t anticipate or even risk our medications on you,’ Martha said. ‘We can’t help. I don’t want you to develop any sort of infection or consequence like gangrene because I don’t think we’ll be able to stop it from killing you. We could just about amputate, but using the technology and medications we have could make you worse. Plus, you’ll be in a state where you won’t be able to help us.’

The Doctor shook his head. ‘No.’

She sighed and shook her head. ‘Okay, just think about it. But please, Doctor. This isn’t just something you can wing. I genuinely think we won’t be able to save you if something happens. Just think about it. You might lose an arm, but at least you won’t be dead or have to use a regeneration.’

‘It might mend itself,’ he insisted. ‘Let me think about it.’

She nodded, looking resigned. ‘Okay.’

‘I still want to go home,’ the Doctor stated. ‘I need to see Leah and Theo right now.’

‘I really don’t want to move you, yet,’ Martha said. ‘We’re still looking through your scans to triple check there’s no internal damage. Your sats are still in the 80’s and your blood pressure is lower than I’ve ever seen it. You’re bloody lucky to have got out of this without brain damage, you know.’

‘Not lucky, just biology,’ the Doctor insisted. ‘Honest. I’ll be a bit off for a while, but I’ll be fine. I want to go home. I promise I’ll let you poke and prod me all you like there, but I have to go home right now.’

Martha sighed. ‘I’m not going to be able to stop you, am I?’

‘No,’ he replied.

‘I suppose you’re low but you’re stable,’ Martha muttered. ‘But I’ll be watching you for a while, mister.’

He half smiled, but said nothing.

As everyone left to get it sorted, he noticed Jackie gazing at him for slightly longer than was courteous. He looked away. 

* * *

Jack had to help him get dressed into an outfit salvaged from the TARDIS, and he was given a sling for his dead arm and a crutch to help him walk. The Doctor wasn’t remotely interested in anything but getting back to his children, so Jack deftly deflected UNIT and got him as quick as he could out of the hospital and into the SUV with Jackie.

They arrived outside the Plass twenty minutes later, where Jack pulled up. He nodded to Jackie, who nodded back and got out the SUV. For a moment Jack and the Doctor just sat there in silence, with Jack’s hands still gripping the steering wheel.

‘Are we going in or just going to sit here?’ the Doctor wondered.

‘There’s something you need to know first, so it doesn’t surprise you,’ Jack said, not looking at him. ‘It’s about Theo.’

‘What?’

‘He … He didn’t recognise any of us. We kind of got that since you were away so long, but he didn’t even recognise Leah. I don’t think he remembers much before Bac’ou. He says his name’s Soran. We haven’t talked to him much about it yet, we decided to leave that to you.’

The Doctor frowned. ‘He can’t remember Leah?’ 

‘No,’ Jack confirmed. ‘And if he can’t remember Leah …’

‘... Then he might not remember me,’ the Doctor completed.

There was a pause.

‘Just wanted you to know,’ Jack said. Then without another word, he got out of the SUV and moved around to help him out.


	22. Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor returns to the TARDIS, Leah, and his estranged son, struggling to understand what’s happened.

Leah met her dad in the doorway of the Hub in a cacophony of squeals of delight, immediately throwing her arms around his waist. ‘Daddy!’ she said happily. ‘Hiiiiii!’

He smiled. He lowered himself carefully to his knees and wrapped her up securely in a one-armed hug, holding his little girl close to his chest and closing his eyes. She’d grown a little in the three months he hadn’t been with her - a couple more of her teeth had come out, and she was at least an inch taller. Her hair was a little long, and her face was ever so slightly more defined to look even more like Rose. 

For a moment he said nothing, just embracing her. 

'Daddy,’ she prompted over his shoulder after a good minute of silence.

'Just give me a little longer,’ he begged, his eyes still closed.

She giggled. 'I missed you loads.’

'I missed you too,’ he said, kissing her cheek and still not letting go. ‘I'm sorry. I'm sorry we left for so long.’

‘It's okay, you had to save Theo,’ she replied. ‘But please don't leave me again cos I kinda like having you around.’

‘Only kinda?’ Jack asked from behind them with everyone laughing.

‘Okay, loads,’ she admitted. ‘But I’m only saying that cos you’ve been sick.’

Everyone laughed again.

‘Don’t worry, I’m never leaving you again,’ the Doctor said, finally letting go and pulling back to gaze at her, cupping her cheek. She, in turn, reached up and pulled on the slight beard he’d grown in the coma.

‘You look like a grynox,’ she told him. ‘Like the one that chased me through the forest on that planet, and it roared a lot and tried to eat me.’

‘Agreed,’ the Doctor said, still gazing at her. ‘I don’t fancy having to chase you through a forest roaring.’

She giggled and looked at his heavily-bandaged arm. ‘Is it bad?’

'Yeah, it is a bit,’ he admitted.

‘Does it hurt?’ 

‘No. I'm paralysed.’

‘You can't feel it?’ 

‘No.’

She experimentally poked it. ‘Will it get better?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Oh,’ she said, clearly thinking about that for a moment as she took his dead hand, pulling on his fingers slightly. He couldn’t feel her. That pained him a little bit. ‘I’ll help you fly the Tardis, don’t worry, mmkay!’ she said happily and kissed his cheek. She looked around behind him, clearly expecting someone else. ‘Where’s Mummy?’

Everyone looked at him expectantly. He ignored them. Leah and Theo had to be the first to know. On their own. ‘I need to talk to you. Where’s Theo?’

‘This way,’ Leah said and ran to the TARDIS.

Jack stopped him, holding out his phone. ‘This has the pictures you sent to us on it,’ he said. ‘Think you might need it.’

‘Thank you,’ the Doctor replied, taking the phone and following Leah into the time machine. The moment he crossed the threshold, the TARDIS seemed to light up slightly and made a little flurry of mixed electronic noises. Leah stopped and waited as the Doctor smiled and moved to the console, resting his good hand on the controls. They seemed to pulse beneath his palm in an array of lights.

‘Hello,’ he said. 

She made another noise, then settled. Satisfied, he moved to follow Leah again. She led him straight to Theo’s room, where the boy was sitting on the floor doing some colouring with Gwen.

‘Hello,’ Gwen said happily. ‘Welcome back.’

‘Thanks,’ the Doctor replied.

‘I'll get out of your way. Call me if you need me.’

‘Thanks.’

She nodded and left. The Doctor looked at Theo, sitting there staring up at him.

‘Who’re you?’ the boy asked in sirrusan, being translated by the TARDIS. 

The Doctor had been expecting it, but that didn’t stop the feeling of two slim, sharp, and incredibly painful daggers stabbing into his hearts at the words of his son.

‘This is our daddy,’ Leah told Theo informatively, as though this was completely normal. ‘He’s been sick, but now he’s back. I told you ‘bout him. Remember?’

‘Oh, yeah,’ Theo said.

The Doctor carefully lowered himself to sit on the floor using the crutch, inviting Leah in for a hug. She obliged, clinging onto him. ‘Has anyone told you what happened?’ the Doctor asked Theo.

‘Um, I got taken away, but now am home,’ Theo said. 

‘Yeah,’ the Doctor said. 

‘When’s Uncle Bac’ou getting here?’

The Doctor flinched slightly. ‘He’s not,’ he said. ‘And he’s not your uncle. Please don’t call him that.’

‘Who is he, then?’

‘He’s a very, very bad person,’ the Doctor replied firmly. ‘He took you from us. He stole you.’

‘Then where you been?’ Theo wondered.

‘Bac’ou made me extremely sick for a few months,’ the Doctor replied. ‘As soon as I woke up we went to find you.’

‘Oh,’ Theo said, frowning. ‘So, um, I live here?’

‘Yeah,’ the Doctor confirmed. ‘With me, Leah, and Mum.’

‘What’s a “mum”?’ Theo wondered.

The daggers in his chest twisted ever so slightly at his son’s words. ‘She’s another person who loves and cares for you as much as Leah and me and everyone here in Torchwood do,’ he replied as calmly as he could.

‘Oh,’ Theo said, frowning again. ‘Where is she?’

He paused, glancing at Leah momentarily. She gazed up at him, waiting with such innocent eyes. He looked back at Theo. Equally as innocent. ‘Something … something  _ really  _ bad happened to her while we were finding you. She’s not going to be back for a while.’

‘Is Mummy dead?’ Leah asked quietly.

‘No,’ the Doctor replied quickly. ‘But she needs ... saving. And I’m going to save her. But for now, it’s just us three, okay?’

‘Okay,’ Leah said.

‘Does that all make sense, Theo?’ the Doctor asked the boy.

In return, he frowned. ‘My name’s Soran.’

The Doctor decided he couldn’t get into that now. ‘Does it all make sense, Soran?’

‘Um, kinda,’ Theo said. 

‘... Do you remember me at  _ all?  _ Or Leah? Or even your mum?’ the Doctor wondered.

‘Umm … No.’

The Doctor took a deep breath, then decided what to do. ‘Come here.’ He gestured, beckoning the young boy. Theo obligingly shuffled forward to meet him. The Doctor pulled out the phone Jack had given him and located the photos.

The first one was them standing on the promenade when they’d met the Krum’ta beast. The Doctor was holding Theo in his arms, and Leah was standing there beaming beside them with the beautiful sunset behind, lighting them all up in a warm glow.

‘Your mum took this one,’ the Doctor explained and pointed at the baby in his arms. ‘That’s you. We’d just escaped being massacred by the Krum’ta beast.’

Theo stayed silent, just staring at the photo. The Doctor flipped to the next one of him. It was a picture of Leah and Theo, sitting in the depths of the console looking up at the camera through the hole in the grating, the both of them grinning.

‘I had no idea your mum took this one,’ the Doctor confessed.

‘You were asleep,’ Leah told him. ‘And also she thought you’d be mad she let Theo down under the console.’

His hearts ached a little. ‘I wouldn’t have minded,’ he murmured and went to the next photo. It was a picture he’d taken of Rose on the sofa, holding a sleeping Theo.

His breath caught slightly in his throat at the sight of her looking so content and happy.

‘This ... is your mum holding you,’ the Doctor croaked. He looked at the boy and swore he saw a brief flash of recognition wash through his eyes, but he could have been mistaken. 

He couldn’t look at the photo for much longer than that. 

The next one was him and Theo. They were sitting at the top of a slide in a play park. Theo was on his lap with a massive smile on his face, and the Doctor’s legs were so long that they were stretching at least three-quarters of the way down the slide.

‘This was in the Coonough sector,’ the Doctor said. ‘The film festival had finished, and there was this tiny little playpark on the way back to the Tardis with a grand total of one slide. You screamed and screamed until I’d go on it with you.’

He looked at Theo. The toddler was still only staring at him; blinking.

‘Do you remember any of this?’ the Doctor asked the boy, putting the phone on the floor.

Theo shook his head.

The Doctor took his tiny hand gently and guided it to rest on his chest across both his hearts in turn.

Theo looked surprised. ‘But you got two boom-booms like me,’ he realised.

‘Yeah,’ the Doctor confirmed. ‘And so has Leah.’

The little boy looked so confused. ‘No one is like me, Uncle Bac’ou said. He said I most special.’

‘You are,’ the Doctor insisted, letting his hand go. ‘We’re part of a really rare species called gallifreyans. You’re the seventh member of this race. And you’re even more special because you’re a hybrid. You’re part human and part gallifreyan.’

Theo suddenly looked disgusted. ‘But that s’ave blood.’

‘No,’ the Doctor said abruptly, his eyes widening. ‘It’s not slave blood. Don’t ever say that.’

‘Why not?’

‘No one is a slave,’ Leah chimed in.

‘Why not?’ Theo asked again.

‘Because slavery is wrong,’ she replied.

‘But they not real people, they just things we sell.’

‘No, that’s not right,’ the Doctor started again, trying not to feel upset at what he was hearing from his own son. ‘Bac’ou was a very,  _ very  _ evil man, who did bad things to make a profit out of people’s misery. It’s not normal. It’s not right. People suffer at his hands every single day. People die. People are in pain. People - just like you - are stolen from their families and forced to live horrible lives that they don’t want to live.’

‘Really?’ Theo asked, confused.

The Doctor nodded. 

‘Oh.’

‘Bac’ou only wanted to manipulate you into becoming his personal slave,’ the Doctor continued. ‘He wanted you to grow up as a bad person and do all these horrible things to people.’

‘But I dun’t wanna do bad things,’ the little boy said meekly.

‘You won’t,’ the Doctor responded immediately. ‘He’s never,  _ ever  _ going to take you again. I promise.’

‘Okay,’ Theo said.

‘I know after everything that’s happened that this is a lot to take in,’ the Doctor continued. ‘But if you have any questions, just ask me.’

‘Okay,’ Theo said again.

The Doctor smiled at him. ‘I need to go and talk to everyone about what’s happened. You two stay here and play, okay? I’ll come back, and we’ll all play together for as long as you want. Through the night. I don’t care.’

He paused, and then picked up the phone to give to Leah. ‘There are more photos of us on there,’ he said.

She nodded, knowing exactly what he was asking her to do.

* * *

The Doctor went to his bedroom, deciding he needed to straighten himself up before he talked to everyone about Rose. He knew he was trying to delay the inevitable. 

He entered the room he hadn’t seen for three months and immediately stopped dead in his tracks. It was exactly how they’d left it the morning they went to Hivernia. 

There were some of Rose’s clothes, scattered as they nearly always were, over the floor on her side. There was a book she’d been reading on the bedside table, with her place marked with an empty chocolate wrapper. The bed was unmade, and he could see her pyjamas sticking out from under the pillow where she’d crammed them in a vague effect to be neat and tidy. In the corner of the room still sat the giant teddy bear affectionately known as Sir Hugsalot she'd got at the giant galactic fairground on her birthday.

Her make-up was still on the desk, scattered everywhere, with remnants of powders on the surface. The door to the wardrobe was slightly ajar, where the Doctor could see a few of her coats hanging up inside, including the one she’d got five years ago and had never worn. He could even see the towel she’d used the morning they’d left hanging askew on the rail inside their bathroom. He could still slightly smell her perfume in the air.

He tried to ignore the feelings he was having as he navigated his way around the clothes and into the bathroom. He went straight to the mirror and promptly saw his somewhat abysmal reflection. Besides his hair and beard, he looked even worse than before, with red lines around his eyes and pale skin with hollow cheeks. His eyes almost looked dead, gazing back at him without any feeling in them. He looked like a ghost. Even a week in a healing coma hadn't been enough.

With some awkward fumbling and one working arm, managed to shave off the beard he acquired and at least sort out his hair slightly. He then cleaned himself up as best he could, constantly aware of the towel still hanging on the rung.

By the time he was done, he was quite glad to be able to leave. He headed out of his room and met Jack hovering near the door.

'Sorry, just checking you,’ Jack said. 'You look terrible.’

'I  _ feel  _ terrible,’ the Doctor replied, running his hand through his hair and rubbing his eyes.

'Doctor you bled to death, and you were in a coma until two hours ago. For god’s sake, pace yourself and go and rest. I'll look after the kids. You can fill us all in tomorrow about what happened,’ he insisted.

'No. I need to do it now,’ the Doctor answered simply. 'I need everyone together and listening because I don’t want to tell this story ever again.’

Jack paused, then nodded. 'Okay. I'll get everyone into your living room.’ 

He pulled out his phone and started tapping away.

‘What are you doing?’ the Doctor asked.

‘What? Oh. Yeah, we all got a WhatsApp group going while you were away. I'll add you.’

The Doctor rolled his eyes. 'I need to sit down, I feel woozy,’ he stated, and headed to his living room.

* * *

‘... I couldn't stop him,’ the Doctor told everyone, finally reaching the end of the story after a good half an hour. It felt strange. It was as though he was talking about someone else completely. ‘He ejected the blade with the spit on it. It went straight into my artery. I started bleeding to death. Then something exploded.’

‘What exploded?’ Jack asked.

'I don't know,’ the Doctor responded. ‘Everything was suddenly on fire. Bac’ou ran off, and I got out of the room. I couldn't see Rose, so I went to Theo's room. He was unconscious. I tried to get him out, but I'd lost too much blood. I collapsed. I was on the floor and I couldn't move … but then Rose arrived.’

‘Rose?’ Jackie croaked.

He swallowed, briefly preparing himself to say what happened next. ‘She … she didn't seem to notice me. She … just left.’

Everyone stared at him in disbelief.

‘She left?’ Martha repeated. 

‘Are you sure she saw you?’ Gwen asked quickly. 

‘Maybe there was too much smoke,’ Ianto said.

For a moment the Doctor dared to dream that might be true. But it wasn't. ‘She saw me,’ he croaked. ‘She hugged Theo. She kissed him. She looked at me. Then she walked out.’

More silence.

‘I can't believe it,’ Martha muttered.

‘She wouldn't do that,’ Jackie said quietly. ‘That's not my Rose.’ Her eyebrows suddenly lowered, giving him a scathing look. ‘You're lyin’.’

He looked at her. ‘It’s not Rose. It’s Lanwa’s. She has Lanwa’s disease.’

‘Oh shit,’ Jack said, realising immediately what that meant.

‘What the hell is that?’ Jackie demanded to know. ‘What’s ‘appened to Rose?

Jack looked at the Doctor and took the lead. ‘Rose … she’s been infected by a kind of telepathic cancer. It's really,  _ really  _ rare. It infects the psychic area of the brain and then charges right through until it takes over the body. Whatever Rose has become, now, it’s not her. She’s not doing it of her own free will.’

‘So she’s still alive?’ Jackie asked anxiously.

‘Yeah. But …’

‘But what?’

‘But for as long as she's infected, the Lanwa's will control her. It'll use her as a vessel. But she's dying physically and mentally. It's destroying her. This disease completely rots the entire body inside and out.’

'But we can cure 'er?’

Jack paused, looking at the Doctor.

‘... There's a chance. Before all this, I gave her a dream guardian. That's the only thing I can think that might be able to kill the Lanwa's,’ the Doctor muttered. ‘It’s this version of me in her dreams that I put there as a sort of made up hero she can use to fight her nightmares. But for that to potentially work, she’ll need to believe in me. She’ll need to believe that version of me is powerful enough to kill the Lanwa’s.’

‘So what do we do?’ Jack asked. ‘How can we help your dream guardian to fight the disease?’

The Doctor swallowed, regarding them all. ‘I think … we need to capture her, keep her confined, and then I’ll be able to support him.’

‘Oh god,’ Jackie whined, her head in her hands.

‘But where is she now?’ Martha asked.

‘I don’t know,’ the Doctor murmured. ‘She could be anywhere. Doing anything.’

Jackie suddenly got up and ran out crying. There was some slight hesitation before Gwen got up and followed to comfort her.

The following silence was palpable.

'Yan, can you get some tea?’ Jack asked.

Ianto nodded silently and left Jack, Martha, and the Doctor together.

'Where did she get the disease?’ Martha asked. 'Maybe if you go back to the planet she contracted it on, there’ll be a -’

'No, this is all my fault,’ the Doctor interrupted suddenly, staring into space to avoid their gazes. 'I did this to her.’

'How is it your fault?’ Martha asked.

'I gave her this disease.’

'Not on purpose,’ Jack insisted.

'How?’ Martha asked. 'If you're infected then why haven't you turned?’

‘It doesn't affect higher species,’ Jack replied. 'He's just a carrier. It's also really hard to detect, so it's not your fault,’ he directed at the Doctor.

The Doctor shook his head. He couldn't have this conversation again. ‘There's something I didn't tell the others. When I was … well, dead, I had this sort of nightmare. The Lanwa's was in it - I mean, the  _ real  _ Lanwa's. Because I'm still infected and bonded to Rose, she can get inside my dreams whenever she likes.’

‘Oh my god,’ Martha said in disbelief. ‘Are you in danger?’

‘Possibly.’

'Why would she try, though?’ Jack asked. 'What does she want from you?’

‘I think the Lanwa's wants to take control of me. And once it's got me, well …’

'Then it would be a disease that has the ability to time travel and regenerate,’ Jack realised.

They let that sink in for a moment.

‘How long has Rose got until she's … you know?’ Martha asked.

Jack glanced at the Doctor, who’d dropped his head into his hand, clearly not able to answer that. He took the lead again. ‘If it's been three months since it took over, then she's probably got around nine months left. Usually, with Lanwa's, the infected body dies after a year, and the Lanwa's dies with it. It only exists through carriers like the Doctor. So now it's got the chance to infect him through Rose, it'll be able to live in a body that can sustain it. It stops being just a pathogen and becomes a kind of new hybrid lifeform. A new lifeform with only one thought. To spread and kill.’ He looked at the Doctor. ‘The Lanwa’s will use him, the Tardis, and his knowledge to be the most dangerous disease in the universe, with a physical form.’

‘How dangerous  _ is  _ she?’ Martha asked, looking at the Doctor. ‘I mean, what can she do in this form?’

‘It’s not something I’ve ever seen before,’ the Doctor muttered. ‘Lanwa’s has never been able to get to this stage of sophistication. It’s only got this far because of me and Rose, our connection, and all the meddling I did in her dreams. I just don’t know. But I think it caused that explosion in the Bar’zelli cells. In my nightmare, it had these highly-concentrated psychic powers - it’s a disease born of telepathy, so it’s entirely possible it’s got the same powers in reality. There are no rules. This has never happened before. To what extent those powers go … I don’t know. We've got to find Rose and cure her before the Lanwa’s does anything else.’

‘Well, before anything you need to sort out your arm and get better,’ Martha told him.

‘First, I need to talk to the Bar’zelli agent who saved us,’ the Doctor corrected. ‘Where is he?’

‘I’ll take you,’ Jack said.

The Doctor nodded, then got up. He swayed slightly, off-balance, and Jack caught him.

‘What do we do if you can’t sleep without risking being taken over?’ Martha wondered, gazing at him as he blinked to regain his focus.

‘I don’t know.’

* * *

The Doctor met the Bar’zelli agent, who was practising his aim on the shooting range in the depths of Torchwood. The agent stopped at the sight of the Doctor, putting the gun down and approaching him cautiously.

‘You look bad,’ the agent commented. 

‘So I’ve been told,’ the Doctor said. ‘I never found out your name.’

‘I’m Pak,’ the alien answered, extending a hand to shake. 

The Doctor took it. ‘Thank you for saving us.’

‘It was only fair,’ Pak pointed out. ‘I  _ did  _ shoot you. Sorry.’

The Doctor nodded dismissively, then looked at the device strapped to Pak’s wrist. ‘Is that how you’ve been time travelling between here and Sirrus?’

Pak nodded. The Doctor took Pak’s wrist, examining the device.

‘What is it?’ Jack asked. ‘Manipulator?’

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and ran it over. ‘It’s a time skipper,’ the Doctor responded. ‘Even  _ less  _ sophisticated than a manipulator and about two hundred times as dangerous. Do you realise the risk you’ve been taking using this?’ he directed at Pak. ‘Using this to time travel is like trying to walk between two skyscrapers on a rotten piece of wood.’

Pak shrugged. ‘I didn’t have a choice.’

‘I suppose not,’ the Doctor mused, and examined it further, running his sonic over it a little more. ‘Ah, okay, it’s only set to travel between this point on Earth and the Bar’zelli headquarters. How many of these does Bac’ou have?’

‘I don’t know,’ Pak replied. 

‘Are they black market?’

‘Yes, I think so.’

‘Problem?’ Jack asked.

The Doctor bit his lip. ‘If he’s got enough of these made he could bring his entire organisation to Earth.’

‘Oh, don’t worry about that,’ Pak said quickly. ‘I’m pretty sure Bac’ou is dead.’

The Doctor gazed at him. ‘What? Did you see him die?’

‘Well, no, but I don’t think he could’ve survived it,’ Pak said.

The Doctor frowned, then shook his head to clear the thoughts out. ‘Okay. First of all, I’m taking this piece of junk off before it explodes and kills us all.’

Pak’s eyes shot open. ‘Are you serious?’

‘This thing’s crammed with energy that’s extremely unstable, and they’re cheaply made, too. It’s Christmas cracker time travel,’ the Doctor said, buzzing the hopper with his sonic. It pinged to release, and he carefully pulled the device off of Pak’s wrist. He held it out to Jack. ‘Can you put this in a contained forcefield in the Tardis? Be gentle.’

Jack nodded and left.

‘Describe what happened to Bac'ou to me,’ the Doctor said to Pak.

Pak frowned, thinking. ‘Well, it was when I was looking for you. In the corridor outside Bac'ou was crushed under a ceiling collapse and then he just got eaten by fire. Then that human woman got there, kind of looked at him for a bit, then walked off. He’s gotta be dead.’

‘Maybe,’ the Doctor murmured, running his hand through his hair. ‘Did you see where the human went?’

Pak shook his head. ‘I just ran into your son’s room in case she blasted me, too, where I found you.’

‘Okay, thank you,’ the Doctor said, thinking about that momentarily before speaking again, ‘right. I made a promise, didn’t I? Get into the Tardis and I’ll take you wherever you want to go.’


	23. Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor contemplates on his new life without Rose and what he’s going to do next.

With Leah’s help to operate the TARDIS, they dropped off Pak in his new life five thousand years in the future on a remote, distant planet, well away from any trace of the Bar’zellis both in space and time. After which, despite his sheer exhaustion, the Doctor kept his promise and stayed with Leah and Theo for the rest of the day with little interruption from the others. Theo expressed an interest in trying to learn English, so he and Leah had only spoken in it to get him used to it. By the end of the day, he had basic phrases and sentence construction nearly in the bag. His capacity for language was astounding, the Doctor observed. Even better than some of the most talented prydonians he knew growing up.

His desperation to not have to go back to his and Rose’s empty bedroom fueled the Doctor into staying awake. Despite his constant work to try and keep them motivated, Theo dropped off to sleep first, and then Leah started yawning. Resigning to it, he did his parental duties and put them to bed.

Avoiding the bedroom for now, he went to the console room. He desperately wanted to go under the console, but quickly realised in his condition that getting down there was going to be a problem. So instead, he sat down on the chair and just stared at the time rotor. The TARDIS seemed to ebb slightly, as if she was reminding him that she was there.

After a few minutes, the door opened, and Martha came in holding a medical bag.

‘Hello,’ she greeted, moving to him. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Fine,’ the Doctor replied immediately.

She didn’t even acknowledge that, knowing he was lying. He also knew that she knew he was lying, but he didn’t really care. She dropped to sit next to him on the seat, popping open the medical kit. ‘We need to redress your bandages,’ she said.

‘Do we have to?’ the Doctor murmured.

‘Hey, you promised me you’d let me do whatever I wanted if we got you back home,’ she reminded him.

He sighed. ‘Yeah, I suppose.’

She took hold of his arm, pulling it out of the sling and examining it, checking his pulse, heartsrate, and pupils. ‘Slight brachycardia,’ before testing the ends of his fingers. ‘Still not blanching. Any feeling come back? Any movement?’

‘No.’

She nodded and began to remove the bandages, revealing the chaos beneath. It was the first time he'd looked at it. The scar on his wrist was plain, thick, and obvious, and there was a surgical incision going lengthways down his arm that was carefully sutured. He could still see some slight bruising from the tourniquet, healed significantly in his healing coma. 

She began to carefully clean the wounds. ‘Thought any more about what I said?’

He shrugged.

‘You can’t just avoid it, Doctor,’ she said. ‘This is serious. If you get infected, then …’

‘Yeah, I know,’ the Doctor interrupted. 

She sighed and changed the subject as she continued to clean. ‘How are you going to sleep if the Lanwa’s is going to be there?’

He shrugged. ‘She might not be there all the time,’ he said. ‘I won’t know until I go to sleep.’

‘We’ve still got some of that medication that knocks you out without dreaming,’ she recalled. ‘But that’s definitely not a long-term solution.’

‘No, it isn’t,’ he agreed. 

She finished cleaning and started rebandaging. ‘What do you want to do about it? You  _ need  _ to sleep and rest.’

‘I’ll try,’ he replied.

‘That could be dangerous.’

‘Maybe, but I don’t get much choice,’ he pointed out. 

She finished bandaging and put his arm back in the sling for him. ‘If you’re sure. Go to bed. I’ll ask Jack to check in on you later.’

‘Don’t bother.’

‘You’re going to need someone to wake you up if it looks bad.’

‘I’ll be fine.’

She gazed at him momentarily, before packing up her medical bag and standing up. ‘Don’t do this,’ she muttered.

‘Do what?’

She opened her mouth to reply, but evidently thought better of it and changed her sentence. ‘Never mind. Just get some rest.’

* * *

After an hour of staring at the time rotor, the Doctor finally resigned to the inevitable and went to his and Rose’s room. Everything in the bedroom was as he’d seen it earlier, although now the bedroom seemed much darker than before. Sensing his feelings, the TARDIS automatically raised the lights for him.

‘No, please leave them low,’ he muttered to the floor.

She obliged and lowered them again.

He then tried to get changed, but the combination of his dead arm, painful ankle and sheer tiredness meant he gave up quite quickly. Instead, he took off his tie, untucked his shirt, threw off his shoes and socks and dropped into bed, curling up under the cover and making sure that he was facing away from Rose’s side. The lights dimmed automatically. 

It was so,  _ so  _ quiet, he suddenly realised. He wasn’t used to it. Usually, he’d either be trying to ignore Rose talking about something menial when he desperately wanted to sleep, or listening to her unsually loud snoring, or trying to avoid getting accidentally whacked in the head when she turned over. The irritating way she’d slowly nudge him out of bed during the night, and the way she'd subtly steal the duvet.

Or the way she’d comfort him if he had a Time War-related nightmare, needing nothing more than reassuring whispers and her arms around him. The way she’d make sure to wake up early if he’d had a bad night so she could make him breakfast in bed. The way that after waking up in the morning, for a while they’d cuddle under the duvet in silence until Leah started yelling for food and attention from the corridor.

He turned over to look at her side. He could still see the depression in the pillow where her head had been. His acute senses were picking up her natural scent in the air - like flowers in spring.

He took a deeper sniff to see if it really was her scent or just his whimsical imagination. A slight whiff of that distinctive sandalwood smell seemed to wash up his nose. 

His eyes widened. He sniffed again.

Stronger.

He couldn't stay here.

He got up, grabbing a blanket and heading out to Torchwood, which was silent and dark.

He moved to the nearby sofa, laid down, and pulled the blanket over him before daring to take another deep sniff.

No sandalwood. 

* * *

The Doctor woke up the next morning after a surprisingly dreamless sleep to the chink of a mug of tea hitting a table. He groaned a little and opened his eyes ever so slightly to see Jack standing over him, frozen in mid-step.

‘Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up,’ Jack apologised. 

The Doctor just nodded, forcing himself to sit up, yawning. He put his hand on his neck and moved it from side to side to try and work out the kinks from having to curl up on a small sofa all night.

‘Made you some tea,’ the immortal continued.

‘Thanks,’ the Doctor replied, settling for having a dull pain in his neck and taking the flowery mug from the table.

‘You know, there are better places to sleep that’ll suit your gangly frame a lot better,’ Jack joked, taking a seat next to him. ‘Even the autopsy table’s a better option.’

‘Can’t say I fancied that,’ the Doctor replied, blowing on the hot tea.

‘Yeah, guess not, you’d be mistaken for being dead again looking like that,’ Jack joked, and then caught his unamused expression. ‘Sorry. Why are you out here, anyway?’

‘Couldn’t sleep in there,’ the Doctor muttered, glancing at the TARDIS.

‘Wanna talk about it?’ Jack wondered. 

‘Not really.’

Jack sighed loudly.

‘What?’ the Doctor asked, looking at him.

‘Just because Rose isn’t here doesn’t mean you’ve gotta regress to being an emotional brick wall again.’

‘So what if I am?’

‘I seriously thought we knew each other better than that these days.’

The Doctor said nothing. 

‘You’re hurting. You don’t need to bottle it all up and pretend it’s not happening,’ Jack continued. ‘Just talk to me. Unless you don’t trust me?’

The Doctor looked at him. ‘Yes, I do. Sorry. You're right. I just … She's everywhere, Jack,’ he told him. 'I didn't realise just how far I let her in. Everything in the Tardis has got a bit of her in it. Everywhere I look. I just can't stop thinking about her. I keep looking for her in every room. She's not there. Then I remember why.’

‘That’s totally normal,’ Jack assured him. 

‘Yeah. But it’s more than that. Last night I swear I could smell that sandalwood perfume.’

‘Imagination?’ Jack posited.

‘I don't know,’ the Doctor confessed. ‘We're still bonded, and I'm still infected with Lanwa’s. Maybe when our connection strengthens like that with memories, it somehow gives the Lanwa’s power. But I didn’t dream last night sleeping out here - at least, nothing I remember.’

'I could clear the bedroom for you,’ Jack suggested. ‘Just get her out of there for a bit, so it’s your space.’

The Doctor considered that. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I'll make a new room.’

'Wait. Are Leah, Alex, and Theo in danger? I mean, can she get to them in their dreams?’ Jack asked, suddenly anxious.

The Doctor shook his head. ‘No. Just me because of the bond. But it looks like it's not every night.’ 

‘Maybe it's when you smell that sandalwood,’ Jack reasoned.

‘Maybe.’

‘You decided what to do, yet?’

The Doctor nodded. 'Yes, but I'll need your help.’

‘Anything,’ Jack said.

'I'm going to go to Pleaneas.’

‘The medical clinic in the Stera system?’ Jack asked. ‘Supposed to be the best in the universe?’

The Doctor nodded. ‘Yeah.’

'I’ve heard of that place,’ Jack said. 'You think they'll be able to fix your arm?’

'I hope so,’ the Doctor replied. 

'Why do you need me there?’

‘Because I can't leave the kids here. Not again.’

Jack smirked a little. ‘So you want a babysitter?’

'No,’ the Doctor answered without a hint of humour. ‘I … I need someone with me, and I think you're the only person I can completely trust, now.’

Jack looked puzzled. ‘You can trust everyone at Torchwood; you know that.’

‘We don't know what kinds of powers she has, and you're the only person with a good level of advanced psychic training,’ the Doctor pointed out. ‘When I was in my nightmare you were there, helping me as a guide. My subconscious chose you for a reason, Jack.’

Jack paused, just taking that in, and then instinctively hugged him. The Time Lord didn’t resist. ‘We’ll get her back,’ Jack muttered. ‘It won’t always feel like this.’

The Doctor just stayed still, feeling like he was about to cry. He pushed it all back and pulled away from Jack. ‘Thank you,’ he said sincerely.

‘You’re welcome,’ Jack replied. ‘Now drink your tea, I’ll get breakfast, then we’ll let everyone know and go.’

* * *

Despite that fact he hadn’t felt very hungry, the Doctor did feel a lot better having eaten breakfast. When they finished, Jack summoned everyone with the WhatsApp group, and the Doctor retrieved Leah and Theo, to gather everyone together and explain what the plan was.

Halfway through, Jackie turned up holding some bags. The Doctor approached her immediately, and she pulled him to the side away from everyone else.

‘I'm sorry for how I reacted, it was out of order,’ she said quietly. 

‘It wasn’t,’ the Doctor assured her. ‘I promised you I’d take care of her and I let you down. After all this time. I'm so sorry. You have every right to be angry. It was all my fault.’

‘It wasn’t, sweetheart,’ she told him. ‘Jack explained. This ‘appened cos of that Master guy and what he did to you.’

He didn’t answer that. Jackie hugged him in silence for a few moments, kissing his forehead before pulling back. ‘I know bein’ a single parent is hard, Doctor. If you want me to come to this clinic and look after the kids for you, I will.’

He shook his head. ‘Don’t worry. Jack’s coming.’

She nodded. ‘If you ever need anythin’, you know where to find me. And …’ She held up the bags she was holding, and he saw they were crammed with baby supplies, including nappies. ‘Cos you can’t seem to bloody remember.’

He smiled a little. ‘Thank you.’

She smiled in return. ‘Now go get your kids their mum back. And for god’s sake answer your phone cos I’m gonna be callin’ you a  _ lot.’ _

He nodded. ‘I will.’

She hugged him again, just as there was an alert that someone was at the Hub door. Ianto checked it.

‘It’s Unit,’ he announced to everyone, and they all looked at the Doctor. 

‘I don’t have time for that,’ the Time Lord said and looked at Leah, Theo, and Jack. ‘Say goodbye.’

* * *

Bac’ou Bar’zelli woke up with a significant headache, opening his eyes to find himself lying in a hospital bed. As the vague memories of what had happened whipped through his brain, he panicked, looking around and seeing a human woman sitting in a chair next to his bed, completely relaxed.

His panic increased. ‘What …’

‘Relax, I’m not gonna touch you,’ the human woman assured him. He recognised her as the Doctor’s wife.

‘What are you … where am I!?’ he asked frantically, catching his reflection in a nearby mirror. He was scarred with burns from head to toe.

‘You’re on the clinic on Pleaneas,’ she told him. ‘I brought you here. You were basically dead.’

Bac’ou’s eyes snapped back to her. ‘You … saved me!?’

‘Yeah,’ she replied. ‘’Cos, believe it or not, you’re more useful alive.’

‘You can’t do anything to me,’ Bac’ou said quickly. ‘My people will …’

‘Your people now do exactly what I tell ‘em,’ she informed him casually as she checked her nails. ‘I call the shots. So be polite, yeah?’

‘Are you threatening me?’

She sighed loudly. ‘I’ve just saved your life, and I’ve saved your little regime, too. Work it out. Don’t you like to think you’re clever?’

He fumed a little. ‘Then why did you save me?’

‘’Cos I think we can help each other out.’

‘How?’

‘We have a mutual interest.’

‘What?’

‘You want the Doctor’s son. I want the Doctor,’ she said.

‘And why should I trust you? He’s your husband.’

‘You really shouldn’t be askin’ me naive questions like that, Bac’ou,’ she said, her eyes narrowing. ‘Either you trust me or don’t - it’s all the same to me. I don’t actually  _ need  _ you; it’s just more convenient if we work together.’

Bac’ou blanched a little. ‘Well then human, it’s news to you that the Doctor’s dead. And his son.’

‘Nope. They were saved by one of your agents,’ she told him. ‘Pak. He took them back to Earth. They’re both alive. And by the way, my name’s Rose. Start usin’ it.’

Bac’ou fumed. ‘Pak, that little shintakk! I’ll kill him! I’ll-’

‘Are you stupid? Forget him,’ Rose interrupted. ‘Your useless agent’s gone, and he’s not worth the chase. The Doctor  _ is.’ _

Bac’ou’s eyes narrowed. ‘Don’t call me stupid.’

‘I’ll call you what the hell I want,’ Rose replied firmly. ‘’Cos I’m your only chance of you gettin’ your heir back. At the same time, you’ll get an immortal and another gallifreyan hybrid child to do what you want with, and I’ll get the Doctor.’

‘I suppose you have a plan.’

‘Oh yes. The Doctor’s comin’ here, and this is where we’ll get things goin’.’

‘He’s coming to Pleaneas?’

‘Yes. He’s been severely injured and he needs treatment. And he won’t want to leave the kids behind, so they’ll be with him too. He’ll also probably bring the immortal.’

‘Then we ambush him here!’ Bac’ou declared.

‘No.’

‘... No?’

‘Not here, not while he’s got the Tardis and escape routes. I know him better than I know myself, Bac’ou. I know how he works. I know how he thinks. I know what he’ll do and where he’ll go and what he thinks he can do to stop me. And I’m tellin’ you. If we try and take him here, then he’ll squirm out of it like the little annoyin’ worm he is. No. We make him come to  _ us  _ and  _ surrender,  _ yeah? _ ’ _

‘How the hell would you do that?’

‘Very easily, but it’ll take some time. Now. Are you with me or not?’ Rose asked.

Bac’ou paused, gazing at her, before looking at the mirror again at the burns and scarring. He then nodded. 

‘Yes.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done! As always, thank you for sticking with me!
> 
> Next up is 'Panacea' ... I've very nearly caught up with myself :D
> 
> _‘So, therapy or an exoskeleton,’ Jack stated, looking at the Doctor who was still examining the exotronic.  
>  ‘What's the quickest?’ the Doctor asked Panacea.  
> ‘The therapy would take three months minimum. The exotronic would take an estimated two weeks, including the familiarisation sessions - of course, the length of this depends on your response.’  
> The Doctor didn't hesitate. 'I want the exotronic.’  
> ‘You sure?’ Jack asked. ‘I know we haven’t got much time, but maybe you should just take the hit and go for the therapy.’  
> The Doctor shook his head. ‘I can't be here for three months minimum, there's no time. Rose will be dead in six if I don’t do something. I'll just have to take the risk.’  
> ‘You’ll have to have invasive surgery.’  
> ‘I know,’ the Doctor replied. ‘But I don’t have the time to wait.’ He looked at Panacea and nodded. ‘I’ll take the exotronic.’  
> _  
> -  
> Looking to cure his paralysis, the Doctor heads with Jack to the most renowned clinic in the universe, where he meets someone he was forced to leave behind a very long time ago. But with Rose one step ahead, the threat to the Doctor and his family has never been so personal.


End file.
